I...don't quite get what she's getting at, but...I think her argument is flawed in that she seems disconnected from what actual nerdy people are like. Granted, she says she focuses on the stereotype, but I also think she's just perpetuating a worse interpretation, which is also disengaged from what real people are like.
Most of the people that I've ever met who identified as "nerds"...were outsiders at one point or another. Myself included. I've always thought that it's the things making them different that lead to a greater appreciation for stories that are a little outside the norm.
I'm more at home in my Dungeons&Dragons group than I am in Honors English. I practically got sneered out of that class by the teacher (some of the students) because I liked sci-fi and fantasy novels. Whereas in D&D I can talk about everything from Pokemon to Bradbury. The thing that we share in common, that I've noticed, is that we have or had qualities that either make it harder to have friends or made it hard to have friends in elementary school in particular. We didn't play during recess for whatever reason, we read books.
I guess what I'm getting at here is that the myth seems spawned more from the fact that people who tend to enjoy "nerdy things" during the time period when the stereotype was particularly prominent, enjoyed those things because of the things that made them outcasts.
(Kind of off topic, but this is one reason why I've REALLY come to hate the term "weeaboo" as a derogatory way to describe teenage girls that like anime/manga. Yeah, fanbrats can be a little annoying, but there are things that make them that way and particularly susceptible to engaging the counterculture, because they find people there that engage them. However, people will use their likes and dislikes as a way to further ostracize them. As with the term, "weeaboo")
That being said, I think the game has changed. It's becoming cuter and cooler to be a dork (Jim Butcher, Stephen Colbert anyone?), and the line is blurring. I definitely think that the meaning of the word has changed enough so that I will tote it proudly in order to connect with people who share similar interests, not because I feel like an outcast.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Most of the people that I've ever met who identified as "nerds"...were outsiders at one point or another. Myself included. I've always thought that it's the things making them different that lead to a greater appreciation for stories that are a little outside the norm.
I'm more at home in my Dungeons&Dragons group than I am in Honors English. I practically got sneered out of that class by the teacher (some of the students) because I liked sci-fi and fantasy novels. Whereas in D&D I can talk about everything from Pokemon to Bradbury. The thing that we share in common, that I've noticed, is that we have or had qualities that either make it harder to have friends or made it hard to have friends in elementary school in particular. We didn't play during recess for whatever reason, we read books.
I guess what I'm getting at here is that the myth seems spawned more from the fact that people who tend to enjoy "nerdy things" during the time period when the stereotype was particularly prominent, enjoyed those things because of the things that made them outcasts.
(Kind of off topic, but this is one reason why I've REALLY come to hate the term "weeaboo" as a derogatory way to describe teenage girls that like anime/manga. Yeah, fanbrats can be a little annoying, but there are things that make them that way and particularly susceptible to engaging the counterculture, because they find people there that engage them. However, people will use their likes and dislikes as a way to further ostracize them. As with the term, "weeaboo")
That being said, I think the game has changed. It's becoming cuter and cooler to be a dork (Jim Butcher, Stephen Colbert anyone?), and the line is blurring. I definitely think that the meaning of the word has changed enough so that I will tote it proudly in order to connect with people who share similar interests, not because I feel like an outcast.
...Did that make sense?