Awhile back Alastair Stephens of Storywonk had a blog post about the new popularity of geekdom. He was warning against geekatude crossing the line into considering themselves the cool ones, and looking down on the non-geeks:
Geeks aren’t just accepted for who they are, but they are the new pinnacle of the social pyramid; they are the new cool. But that isn’t what being a nerd is about; more importantly, it never was. ... Cool is exclusionary ... Nerds, geeks — and yes, wonks — are passionate about things. They aren’t embarrassed to care or obsess; they never sacrifice their enthusiasm to look cool, and they don’t expect anyone else to do so either. Being a geek should be an inherently inclusive way to live; it isn’t about delineating us and them (Keep Your Cool)
This didn't sit right with me. First, I disagree that geeks have never wanted to be cool. Most geeks aren't outsiders because they're passionate about things, and don't care who knows it; it's because they don't read social cues very well. You see that reflected in a show like Freaks and Geeks. There are three main "geeks" one of whom would like to be cool, but just don't know how. Only one of them is so secure about himself that when confronted with what it takes to be more accepted, refuses to give in (Bill! It's why we love Bill!)
I know the difference 'cause when I was in high school I was the person who could read the social cues and consciously reject them. I actually wasn't teased by the In Crowd; it was by the heavy-metal-smoking-up gang, some French kids, the middle of the road kids (who wanted to be more In), and sometimes by nerds. The nerds could only see that I dressed different than Everyone Else, and judged me for that like anyone else.
Which brings me to point #2: Nerds have their own ideas of what's cool and not cool, within their own circle. And nothing shows this more than the unbearably nasty world of role playing games. And that world is just as macho, sexist, exclusionary, and shitty as any Engineering department or cop precinct of old. (Okay
not so old.) This became disgustingly clear during a series of incidents my brother pointed out to me, of culture blogger
Anita Sarkeesian who decided to raise money to do a series on the portrayal of women in video games. She instantly began receiving hate comments, personal threats, hacking attacks, sexual harassment, and more. (The New York Times has a larger story on
sexual harassment in gaming.)
If there are geeks who are excited by a new found cool status, it's because there have always been geeks who wanted to be cool, they just didn't know how. I don't think there's anything inherently inclusionary about geek culture. Maybe there is in "wonk" culture, if there's such a thing. But generally I would say judgmental-tude is a cross cutting feature of society.
