we hear the words nerds and geeks, it is often those studious, witty, socially awkward, scrawny and wimpy or sometimes chubby guys that may come to mind. What purpose does your average geek serve to society? Beyond the fact of knowledge some may find useless, making great group partners (carrying the majority of group workload), and being the butt end of endless jokes and bullying, what importance do they hold? Society yells without speaking that we need more men compared to nerds and geeks. It’s something
Out of all the stereotypes, I believe I am classified as a nerd. I have that high GPA and the nerdy glasses to prove it. I recognize this as a stereotype because of how media has portrayed it to me. People that seem like nerds all seem to share the same characteristics. They all have glasses, lack of friends, not well kept, all the technology possible, and they are smart and ahead of the game. I believe the stereotype derived from books, movies, and TV shows. Books for so long have had characters
Being a nerd isn’t always easy for anyone. Of course, being a nerd is pretty much anyone’s opinionated definition, but this is what I think the definition is. There has always been a stigma around being a nerd. Nerds are usually associated with never showering, lacking a socially acceptable amount of friends, and parent’s being harder on them. Being a nerd has its upsides, like willing to learn, or the ability to soak in a lot of information and put it to use. The downside, however, usually nerds lack
Dork, dweeb, geek, techie, or trekkie? What is a nerd? Dr. Suess first used the word “nerd” in 1950 it described a “small, unkempt, humanoid creature with a large head and a comically disapproving expression”. Newsweek, just a year later, reported the word beginning to take on a derogatory meaning as someone who is dull, and rigidly conventional. Over the next two decades, the meaning of the word did not improve. In 1971, The Observer called nerds, “people who don't live meaningful lives,” and The
NERD SUBCULTURE Maitreyee Raje .Prof. Trautman .FASH 782 In school and in life, we stereotype groups of people with similar interests and hobbies. Especially in our teenage years and early adulthood, we categorize people almost immediately by what they wear, what they do, and how they act. Nerds is a term used for a studious intellectual interested in a particular topic. According to legend, “nerd” derives from “knurd”, i.e “drunk” spelled backwards. Nerd culture has been termed ‘The Third Culture’
America Needs its Nerds Pigtails, thick glasses, high waisted pants, and headgear. What do those words remind you of? Americas culture has stereotyped nerds and geeks like this. Many people, especially in the past, have felt ashamed and ostracized to be who they were. The word “nerd and geek” used to be a derogatory name according to Leonid Fridman the author of “America Needs Its Nerds”. However, in modern day these words are not as harmful or insulting as they were in the past. Many students
have your nerds, jocks, and the regular students. When it comes to work and activities some things the nerds won’t necessarily do. Nerds tend to be much smarter than the jocks. Not really saying that Jocks are not smart. Jocks are more into sports rather than nerds. They both will get their work done to be successful and to have grades they would want. Sometimes I just feel as if I'm just a regular student because I'm not a nerd nor a jock. I realized there is a difference between a nerd and jock
society as nerds. Many nerds are well known throughout society. Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft, and Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple, are just a couple of the numerous amounts of nerds in the world who have impacted the world; however, many nerds are ostracized from the world. Because nerds study rather than socialize and think on a faster pace than the average human, nerds are typically ostracized from society. Nerds would rather study to get an A on their next quiz grade rather
involving the revolution of “bringing the nerd back”. Fridman was a Harvard University student and founder of the Society of Nerds and Geeks. Leonid Fridman in his opinion piece, America Needs Its Nerds, analyzes the society in America and how they value intelligence compared to other things such as sports for example. Fridman exercises the use of real world comparisons and appeal to equality to persuade the reader that America does in fact need its nerds by developing a strong argument that adequately
the people who are classified by society as nerds. Many nerds are well known through-out society. Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft, and Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple, are just a couple of the many nerds in the world who have impacted society in a huge way; however, many nerds are ostracized from the world. Because nerds study rather than socialize and think on a faster pace than the average human, nerds are typically ostracized from society. Nerds would rather study to get an A on their next
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
In his essay “America Needs Its Nerds”, author Leonid Fridman discusses the stigma against so-called “nerds” and how these nerds are essential to America in keeping up with other countries. He does this providing several examples. However, this essay is ultimately weak because of the broadness of his examples, as well as the overarching strawman he creates to represent “society”. By relying solely on these examples, he creates a very simple one sided argument To begin the essay, Fridman states that
Nerds and nerd culture has been very prominent through the decades. From the 1970s to the present they have been represented through movies, TV shows and live-events; such as, Comic-con. They have predominantly been depicted as featuring characteristics in which other individuals usually stray from in order to better fit in with society; for example, wearing braces, dorky glasses, geeky hair cut, and usual nerd attire. Furthermore, nerds have been depicted in popular media as individuals who lack
within the confines of a certain social class, the nerds and geeks. Nerd culture rose within mainstream culture and media through a staunch refusal to be put to the side and belittled when it did hit big. It has stayed largely and long enough so that most people will tell you that superheroes and space pilots and "all culture is nerd culture now." (Rosenberg, Alyssa) "But something that stung even worse than a towel-snap was often getting labeled a "nerd" or a "geek."" Ryan Britt opens up his series
people, if seen or labeled differently by another group she would probably conform to this as well. Another common label used is “geek” or “nerd”. This label can be taken in both a positive or negative way but mostly seen as a negative label in high school. This seems to demonstrate that when a student exhibits intelligence they are then labeled as “geeks” or “nerds”. This label group seems to be affiliated to harassment by other groups mainly “jocks”. This harassment of intelligent people can lead to
Evolution of the Geeks In the past 20th century, the word geek has evolved into many different meanings. The term branched off to create a person with low social skills, often with high intelligence, a person highly interested in computer technology, and a person with a devotion to something that places him or her outside of the mainstream. Geek usually has negative connotations within popular culture, where being a geek tends to be an insult. The term can also be a badge of honor among subcultures
furthermost physical and mental level, develop strategies, and find satisfaction in triumph through adversity: the most delicious of all triumphs. More than that, I have found each match I play, little by little, punctures the stereotype of the weak female nerd, if not simply the weak female: no longer do people say that I run fast, for a girl, that I serve well, for a girl, that I hit hard, for a girl. Through tennis, I silently dare the world to see me raw--not just as scholar, just an athlete, just a girl
When you see someone characterize someone else as a nerd, what do you generally think about this person, what if this same person is characterized as a geek? Most people generally hold a negative connotation with one of these titles, some see it as the geek and some see it as the nerds. Oscar De Leon and Yunior from Juinot Diaz’s The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao can be classified as members of either of these groups in some ways. There are ways that they fit in and ways that they don’t but
There are many common ideologies found in today’s culture and they are often supported in television shows, television ads, and other sources of media. The Big Bang Theory is just one of many shows that embraces ideologies and stereotypes that are found in culture today, such as cultural myths about geeks, culture, and women. The Big Bang Theory characterizes intellectuals, particularly men as unsexy, unpopular, bad athletes, unstylish, and social inept children looking for a mother figure. These
donations by friends and family and a very understanding school administration, I was able to continue attending Northwest Christian School for all my years of schooling. During my time at Northwest, beginning even in kindergarten, I was dubbed a "nerd". In actuality, this only meant that I was smart and a great test taker. As a child, I was not bullied, but my intelligence and lack of acquired people skills successfully alienated me from a majority of my peers. This seclusion allowed me to form