"ToolPackinMama" comcast.net> wrote

I don't mind either term myself, but more often use "Trek fan".

In *some* cases, people consider "Trekkie" to mean passive fans who just
watch the show & maybe read the books. Those people use "Trekker" to refer
to more active fans, such as those who go to club meetings, do art, put out
zines, make costumes, etc. In broader fandom some differentiate between
"fans" who "just read the stuff" and "Fans" (capital 'F') who do zines, run
cons, etc.

Con going is more likely to get you considered an 'active' general fan than
an 'active' Trek fan, as *some* Trek cons are often more of a show you
simply watch, while *some* broader fan cons are more about people
participating in the con. (I think the issue is a bit grey to conclude
anything.)

*Some* find the term "Trekkie" to sound too much like "kiddie", so they
prefer "Trekker". (Again, I don't mind either.)

*Some* note that the term Trekkie is used as a pejorative by some, thus
prefer it not to be used. That sort of thing happens in language all the
time. An obvious example is the word "nigger", which simply means "black",
but which has such a history of use as a pejorative that the term is often
avoided as a term for black people by those whishing to avoid offence
(myself included, other than as a discussion of etymology). I note that
clearly "Trekkie" has far far less of a history of pejorative intent than
the 'n word', but the reaction to the term (right or wrong, overblown or
otherwise) by some Trek fans, is a similar phenomenon.

I've had *some* Trek fans mad at me for using the term "Trekkie", when I
intended no offence.

I'm sure there are more complexities to the etymology I'm not aware of.

Karl Johanson