America Needs Its Nerds Analysis

“In American schools, the culture exalts the athlete and good-looking cheerleader. Well-educated and intellectual students are commonly referred to in public schools and the media as "nerds," "dweebs," "dorks," and "geeks," and are relentlessly harassed and even assaulted by the more popular "jocks" for openly displaying any intellect” (Williams). In my experience

Leonid Fridman, the author of the article,”America Need Its Nerds” in the New York Times, addresses how geeks and nerd are portrayed negatively in American society. He asserts the faults in American society’s values in order to convince the readers of the New York Times to appreciate the intellectually curious instead of degrading them. Fridman integrates logos,ethos, and pathos to support his objective of persuading the readers of the New York Times to acknowledge the intellectuals rather than patronizing them.

In an essay published in the New Yorker in May 1999, entitled “High-School Confidential: Notes on Teen Movies,” writer David Denby analyzes movies targeted towards teenagers and the stereotypes associated with them. He begins his essay by describing the archetypal characters in high school genre films: the vapid popular girl and her athletic male counterpart, and the intellectual outsider and her awkward male counterpart. He then describes the reality of teen life, and compares it to the experience depicted in these films. Next, he analyzes the common theme that the geeky characters are the protagonists, and suggests there are such because of their writer's personal experience and a history of geeks being ostracized. Finally, Denby analyzes the tropes in

In the essay “Jock Culture” by Robert Lipsyte, the author explains the lifestyle of jocks and how there are two different types of people in the world. Lipsyte has very good points in his essay that the author mainly agrees with the essay but the author also believe there are few points that the author also disagrees with. The author believes that there is jock culture in today’s world. Although it seems like people are beginning to change. Jocks are not beginning to act like jocks anymore and people are evolving.

In today’s society, constant judgement as to how well you fit in achieves nothing, rather distinguishes hope for improvement. Ideas including being looked down upon for an individual’s intelligence or being pushed aside from groups due to one’s academic ability are becoming an epidemic as those who seek to better themselves are seen as inferiors. The United States today is accustomed to issues as far as the negative deterioration towards those who possess higher mental values. In America Needs Its Nerds by Leonid Fridman, a look into how geeks and nerds are identified, the reality of childhood dilemmas, and the problem in the broad spectrum of the globe are all noted and questioned as to why America as a society expresses such a negative position

Media has influenced a lot of today’s trends and ideologies. Adolescents, being on the psychological level of self-identification, bring this deceptive notion of fashion and social classes to school. The problem comes when this trend affects the performance of students and their personal lives. We all remember our days back when the talk was “Who are the jocks, the cheerleaders, the rick kids, the geeks, the losers, etcetera?” Believe it or not, the status quo in schools is always composed of them. These cliques have identities exclusive for each. Students who do not look, act, or dress the same as one group are, more often than not, left out. They could be hurt physically and or psychologically with cruel teasing and rumors. Bullying and

Towards the end of his third paragraph, Fridman delivers a short statement, “Nerds are ostracized while athletes are idolized,” that strongly projects America’s anti-intellectual values. While “nerds” and “athletes” are two obvious, contrasting beings, the antitheses reflected with the isolation of “nerds” and the praising of athletes heavily pushes the notion that “nerds” are being thrown out of a society that only appears to incorporate anti-intellectual values and undervalues scholars. In Fridman’s eighth paragraph, he illustrates how ballplayers, or athletes, are “much more respected and better paid” than the professors of the most reputable universities. Like before, he displays the divergent individuals with conflicting facts, income and respect in this case, that oppose intellectualism and promote anything but intelligence. Fridman’s use of antithesis deepens the questioning and challenge to overcome anti-intellectualism standards in American

Author, Alexandra Robbins, in her novel The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth, describes her quirk theory and establishes its credibility as she centers her theory around seven different characters as she narrates their high school experiences. Robbins focuses on the negative effects of popularity and how social norms can affect an individual, regardless of what social group they belong to. She creates an amusing, informative tone in order to appeal to the geeks, freaks, and popular crowds with relatable experiences and strong essays in regards with the social scene, exclusivity, and how one handles a given situation.

I selected the book The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth by Alexandra Robbins because I was interested to read about an adult author’s perception of a modern American high school experience. I also chose the book because the reviews mentioned that it related to a TV series I enjoyed, Freaks and Geeks. As I read through the book, I found that it centered around the theory that if a student is excluded or dismissed in high school for having different traits than what other students considered normal, those same traits that made them different will allow them to succeed in an adult life after high school. As soon as I got about a quarter of the way into the book I was not as enthusiastic as I was at first glance. I did agree that these traits could benefit someone, but they don’t define what you have the potential to be when you’re an adult. This high school cliché, despite the seven heartwarming storylines, is inaccurate in describing what the future holds for high school students because our future is unpredictable, and a book with a little statistic and seven high school experiences can’t solidify someone’s adulthood. I also noticed that there were no counterarguments present in the book, leading me to assume that Robbins may not have heavily researched both sides of her ‘quirk’ argument. Although I had differing opinions than the author, the seven characters, their storylines, and the promise of a young James Franco continued to perk my interest and

Would you rather be a bigger nerd or a better athlete? I bet the majority of you said athlete because that is what American culture is rooted in. However, in his article “America Needs Its Nerds” (1990) Leonid Fridman proposes that “For America’s sake the anti-intellectual values that pervade our society must be fought.” By first spelling out how the meaning of the terms geek and nerd are derogatory, and secondly, explaining how at prestigious colleges “nerds are ostracized while athletes are idolized” and third, describing how other countries treat the intellectually serious– hold them and teachers above athletes– Fridman accomplishes his task. Through his utilization definition, rhetorical question, and contrast, Fridman seeks to

A Geek is a person one who is perceived to be overly intellectual, unfashionable, or socially awkward. Once used as a derogatory term, the word Geek is now used to describe leaders. People like Bill Gates of Microsoft, the late Steve Jobs of Apple Computers, Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook, all famous “Computer Geeks”, Elon Musk of Tesla and SpaceX “Transportation or Space Geek”, Ralph Lauren “Fashion Geek”, even the President of the United States, Barrack Obama has been called a geek, “World Leader Geek”?. All could be called overly intellectual, unfashionable (except Mr. Lauren), or socially awkward, however, all are considered geniuses in their industry. In today’s world, the term geek and expert are used interchangeably to identify people

Adolescence is about being yourself. Some people can’t determine wether or not it is better to fit in, or stand out. In “Lord of the Flies”, Piggy was being picked on and told Ralph that he was “the only boy in school that had asthma,” (Goulding). In “Lord of the Flies”, most of the kids on the island picked on Piggy. This is very similar to real life situations. In high school, or even grade school, there is normally one child, who is exceptionally different from the rest, who gets picked on. But, how do they determine if it is better to stand out or fit in? Either way, it’s kind of a lose, lose. If you stand out, you are more prone to be picked on or judged, but if you fit in, you are not being yourself and you are conforming to everyone else’s exceptions. We as individuals, shouldn’t be worried to be ourself, we should be able to be whoever we want.

Surviving high school is no easy task. From the very first day of class, students are forced to find comradery in various social circles. These cliques can range from sports jocks, to math and band geeks, to school club members, and to the social outcasts who could care less about school. While there are more various types of groups, the most common are the jocks and the nerds. As far as everybody in the school in concerned, the popular athletes and the “wimpy” nerds are from two very different planets. However, while there are a lot of differences between the two as far as physical appearance goes, I had the honor of being part of both worlds, and I know for a fact that they have more in common than either would care to admit.

Yeah, Yeah we know, we’re a bit eccentric… to put it politely, but we do have our perks. Us Americans like to think of it as unique. In my opinion, you’ll NEVER fit in. And I’m not trying to be mean, let me finish. What I’m saying is no one in America will ever really “fit in.” Our oh-so-great country is filled to brim with judgmental people and it’s so bad that it’s gotten to the point where social classes are kind of cliche. The idea of jocks, nerds, cheerleaders, and geeks, is so overdone, in not only movies, but in real life too, that they’ve ultimately played themselves out. Now don’t get me wrong, these groups exist everywhere at school, at home, and even in sophisticated environments, such as the workplace, and although the groups are

Today Geek Culture is a widely acknowledged sub-culture across the world. Technology and media are ever changing and the Geek Culture reflects the changes with the acceptance of “nerds”, “otaku”, and the “dweeb”. Though mostly meant as derogatory terms they are now seen as acceptable jokes that are popular in this moment of history. Nerds are the socially awkward and intelligent population the term is also interchangeable with its outdated counterpart dweeb. Otaku was used to insult adults who enjoyed anime that though not meant for children was still considered cartoons therefore childish; but now many refer to themselves as an otaku.