to boldly ho



My name is Jo. My blog is trash.




suburbanerd:

kbrock9146:

cptdorkery:

rachaelkelleher:

cptdorkery:

Someone tried to start a fight with me on Twitter because I called myself a “trekkie” and not a “trekker.” Instead of being provoked I lol'ed and now we are friends.

This is my life.

Interesting!

I always believed “trekkie” was the term anyway.

I never even knew “trekker” was a thing. o_O

Oh, it is a thing, and it used to be taken pretty seriously too. I’m glad it has mostly died out. Starting in the early 70s, the Star Trek fandom divided itself into Trekkies and Trekkers.

The terms carried different connotations. Trekkers were considered serious fans. The kind that knew the trivia and history of the show, but at the same time kept their enthusiasm to respectable levels. The rational fans.

Trekkies, on the other hand, were seen as more frivolous. They were the ones who bought the merchandise, no matter how silly, romanticized the characters, and lived or died by the show.

Trekkers tended to look down on Trekkies as emotional and vapid, while Trekkies considered Trekkers to be exclusionary and patronizing.

And yes, there was an undertone of “fan girl” to it. To many “Trekkie” evoked images of teenage girls mobbing the stage at Elvis and Beetles concerts.

I was in elementary school when TNG aired, and my dad was a fan since the late 60s, so I’ve been exposed to Trek culture and stories my whole life. For many people, like my dad, it was almost an insult to be called a Trekkie, but they could live with, or celebrate, being a Trekker. Trekkie was… juvenile. Demeaning. With a hint of feminine frivolity thrown in.

For others being called a Trekkie was a celebration of the show. An acceptance that, yes, they were the biggest super-uber geek Star Trek fans. And what, exactly, is wrong with that?

The debate, often heated, raged for years. Both sides wanted only their term used to describe all Star Trek fans. Even Leonard Nimoy picked a side, telling us in 1991 that Trekker was the correct term.

Today the issue has pretty much faded away. By the mid 90s the terms were used interchangeably by most people (with the exception of hard core Trekkers) and now I’d say Trekkie has carried the day - in my opinion because Trekkers were just too darn serious for their own good. They also tended to become the fandom’s gatekeepers and the most resistant to change, and eventually they stopped being listened to.

I’m a Trekkie, and I always have been. I knew it was no longer much of a sticking point with fans at all, though, when a few years ago my dad starting a conversation by saying, “You know, Trekkies like us…”

Thank you for this! From what you described, I have a feeling we are close to the same age, and I had COMPLETELY forgotten about this debate!!! Thank you for reminding me of the now mostly forgotten argument of Trekker vs. Trekkie. What a long, strange trip it’s been.

For a brief period in the 90s, I preferred Trekker. Then I realized I was taking myself far too seriously.

I remember the Usenet flame wars in the 90s where someone tried to take the position the using Trekkie in the pejorative was the same thing as, I shit you not, the N-Word. So if you think people’s hot takes are messed up TODAY, well…

  1. dr-mccoy-yall reblogged this from cptdorkery
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  8. gallifreanpotterhead reblogged this from cptdorkery
  9. dancingismycupoftea reblogged this from cptdorkery and added:
    It’s trekkie.
  10. athena1919 reblogged this from rachaelkelleher
  11. thewonderladie reblogged this from suburbanerd
  12. frankie-sings-sinatra reblogged this from cptdorkery and added:
    Who tf says “trekker,” tho
  13. suburbanerd reblogged this from bzangy
  14. blackopsz24 said: Trekkie is correct
  15. brynolf reblogged this from bzangy and added:
    I’m happy with “Trekkie” but generally I go by “Spockette”
  16. magneticiris reblogged this from cptdorkery
  17. bzangy reblogged this from suburbanerd and added:
    On the UK Trek newsgroups, we called ourselves and anyone who liked The Original Series ‘TOSsers’ which was childish and...
  18. rachaelkelleher reblogged this from cptdorkery and added:
    That’s so interesting, but somehow not a surprise. Gatekeepers suck.
  19. missalyace reblogged this from boldlygoing-nowhere