Gatekeepers of the Galaxy

There’s no such thing as a fake geek girl

“F*ck you for buying chibi xenomorphs,” read the Reddit notification that blared across my phone’s lock screen. For those of you who don’t speak geek, a chibi is a style of collectible figurine characterized by a large head, squat body, and broad legs, and a xenomorph is the titular monster of the Alien series.

I was bewildered at first, mistaking it for a trending topic. Then I realized that it was a comment on an old post in which I’d shared photos of my extensive collection of figurines and memorabilia related to the Alien franchise.

Normally I don’t engage random rude comments, but today I was feeling feisty, so I told him his opinion of my collection didn’t matter and went on with my life. Or, I tried to. Over the next 20 minutes, the commenter unleashed an increasingly sexist and rapey tirade, blowing up my phone with notifications until I finally muted them. The basis of his at-times incoherent ranting was that my possession of the chibi xenomorph figurines in said collection suggested that I was not a true fan, especially not as a “girl.” And I should listen to him because he’s the “world’s leading xenomorph expert.” (Snort.) And something-something my puss something-something. Honestly, I quit reading at that point.