As a fan of Star Trek, I prefer to call myself a Trekker.
Yet some hatefull people scoff at me and call me a “trekkie” just because I dress up in Starfleet uniform everyday and have redesigned my living room to look like the bridge of the Enterprise. When I say that the invasion of Iraq violated the Prime Directive because it interfered with the affairs of a culture that wasn’t a threat to us, the only response I get is to be called a stupid “trekkie” who has no idea what the modern day world is like. I’m tired of being mocked because of my beliefs! Why is this hate speech allowed to continue?*
I know it’s a parody and such, but seriously, “Trekkie,” is the proper term. It has been around much longer than “trekker” to describe fans of Star Trek. I never even heard the term “Trekker” used to describe Star Trek fans until about the late 80’s. A trekker is someone who travels a lot, like in "Globe Trekker," a supercool PBS show
I think some overly sensitive Star Trek fans decided it would be less geeky to be called Trekker. Guess what? It does not work. Don’t be ashamed! Some of the coolest people are nerdy. Elvis Costello. David Byrne. Lisa Loeb (very pokeable nerd).
Where did Star Trek fans get the impression that ‘trekker’ is less geeky? It’s not. As long as it means “major Star Trek fan,” it doesn’t matter. I avoid saying trekker because I can’t shake the feeling that just using the word would make me a geek by association.
I think we all know enough about the sex lives of most geeks to see through that one…