Oh jesus, that wank. (well the wank that started that debunking)
I felt really awkward about the whole thing, to be honest. I feel bad for hte original poster of the rant--and I've never really seen the label of 'nerd' used like that before.
I am completely unaware of the original wank. But I have to admit, it sounds like he/she had some serious problems in their teenage years, to feel that 'nerd' was less about specific interests and who one interacts with them and more about being rejected.
Well, I'm glad I missed the wank, but I think that the article has it spot-on, and I say that as someone who almost fits the stereotypical nerd form, except for being female. And yet how many nerd/geek girls are there in the media? Not very many (http://rantsforfood.blogspot.com/2010/08/either-youre-movie-geek-or-youre-not.html). And even those mediums where nerd girls do get more of a personality (e.g. John Green books), their nerdiness tends to fade once the nerdboy has latched onto them (I'm looking at you, Will Grayson, Will Grayson).
Agreed. I definitely thing that even among geeks (and ESPECIALLY among mainstream media) there is the idea that geeks ARE white, male, and late teens-twenty somethings, which is just not a reflection of reality.
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.
I see your point, but I think that sistermagpie is purposely talking about the hollywood image of the geek.
Most of the people that I've ever met who identified as "nerds"...were outsiders at one point or another. Myself included.
Agreed. I was an outsider in high school too... but now that I have various communities to belong to, I don't consider myself any less of a geek, which is what sistermagpie is talking about - a geek is a geek because of interests not because they were unpopular in highschool, and the typical (i.e. Hollywood) representation is not as outside the norm (being white and male and middle class) than some people seem to believe.
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I felt really awkward about the whole thing, to be honest. I feel bad for hte original poster of the rant--and I've never really seen the label of 'nerd' used like that before.
But I will read this article.
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le
sigh
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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?
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I understood yours more than I understood hers.
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Most of the people that I've ever met who identified as "nerds"...were outsiders at one point or another. Myself included.
Agreed. I was an outsider in high school too... but now that I have various communities to belong to, I don't consider myself any less of a geek, which is what sistermagpie is talking about - a geek is a geek because of interests not because they were unpopular in highschool, and the typical (i.e. Hollywood) representation is not as outside the norm (being white and male and middle class) than some people seem to believe.