So. Let's talk about nerds.
The origin of the nerd stereotype is something that has fascinated me for a long time. It's part of another totally fascinating (to me, at least) topic: the crisis of masculinity that emerged in the U.S. and Britain (and maybe some other places that I don't know about) among the middle- and upper-middle classes in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. This "crisis" stemmed from a wealth of factors, but had a lot to do with modernism and its related changing ideas/practices/social identities. During this time, the work landscape (at least for the middle class) was shifting to a more bureaucratic/corporate/office jobby-type situation (read: less manual labor and therefore less "masculine"), as well as the entrance of more women into the work world, and specifically into the field of education (read: our children are being feminized by all these lady teachers, being all ladyish and crap). Which led to the appearance of all these hyper-masculine (and, rather ironically, pretty homoerotic) things--like the Boy Scouts and competitive bodybuilding and Teddy Roosevelt's whole manly-outdoorsy bag...
But that's really not the point of this. So let's just move on:
All in all, I have nothing against nerds. Generally speaking, I find them to be much better people than the majority of douchebags out there--you know, the ones who eat at Applebee's Neighborhood Grill and Bar, listen to Puddle of Muddddd, and generally do despicable, "normal" things. Yes, I realize that there are probably plenty of nerds out there who engage in these deplorable activities (and plenty of non-nerds who don't), but I'm trying to make a sweeping generalization here, people--cut me some slack.
But actually, to get a little less sweepy, I'll be the first person to point out that there are many flavors of nerd out there. Of course there are the traditional, stereotypical nerds with pocket protectors, bow ties, and the tendency to snort snow off a top hat. No, wait. That's a different movie.
...But there are also a million other varieties of nerd out there, and plenty of cool or "normie" people who have their little (or big) nerdy indulgences.
Take me, for example. I definitely consider myself to be a nerd--but I'm a cool nerd. And not just because my Mom said so, thank you very much*. Yes, I love me some 50ยข words and book learnin' and obscure cartoons and snorting snow off a top hat. But I'm also capable of normal (and, dare I say it, awesome) social interaction--to the point that most people wouldn't necessarily classify me as a nerd. Until they get to know me a little better and I start lecturing them about the awesomeness of parasitic wasps. At a keg party. And, yes, I've actually done this before.
[Note: According to my sources, Kids These Days (KTD) (at least at UC Santa Barbara) don't say "kegger" (or even "keg party"--why the fuck did I say that?), but instead "kickback." As in, "Hey, are you going to that kickback in Brayden's room? I hear it's going to be 'off da hook,' for shizzle!"]
[Note: The use of the name "Brayden" in the above note was not accidental. KTD (or perhaps, to be more accurate in this instance, their parents) are disgusting.]
[Note: The use of the clearly outdated slang in the above note was also not accidental. That's called "comedy."]
So what was the point of all this? Uh...Oh, right. Nerds.
Actually, my original intention for this post was to talk about the ridiculous level of nerdery going on in my Flash animation class--but, as usual, I got off on a sociological/historical/blabbering tangent.
Because I'm a cool nerd. Ahem.
...Okay, so I'm totally not trying to be all cocktease-y with you ("Oh yeaaaah; I'll definitely tell you all about my Flash class! ...Actually, I'm kind of tired now. I'll call you...sometime."), but I'm going to save my actual tale of woe/amusement for the next installment.
But I am totally planning on calling you later. I swear.
PS: For further reading, please see Wikipedia's entry on nerds, which I find endlessly entertaining. A reference to Freakazoid!? Excellent.
*Because she didn't.









