The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth - Alexandra Robbins [175]
Unself-consciousness. Closeness to adults. Interest in imaginative worlds. Enthusiasm. Cooperativeness. Immunity from fads. None of these is a negative characteristic for adults, yet combined they form a recipe for exclusion among teens. Eventually, people come to appreciate nerdiness. With the success and popularity—actual popularity—of standout nerdy characters like those portrayed by Stephen Colbert, Tina Fey, Seth Green, Michael Cera, and Masi Oka, today’s generation of adults has entered the Age of the Nerd. Movies celebrating the beta male (think Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill, Ben Stiller)—clean up at the box office. In many areas, nerds are appreciated and even beloved precisely because of the qualities that set them apart from the mainstream.
Both the nerd and geek subcultures have undergone a renaissance in recent years. In 2010, “nerd fashion”—large, thick-framed glasses, tapered pants, and argyle vests—gained favor. Even Hello Kitty sported black-rimmed glasses on Sanrio’s “nerd tote bag” and other items. The rise of geek chic and nerd merch, the proliferation of nerdcore hip-hop artists, and celebrity endorsements of and appearances at the “nerd prom” known as Comic Con all contribute to what Jerry Holkins, the creator of the Penny Arcade webcomic and video game conference, called “the social pariah outcast aesthetic.” The massive mainstreaming of spheres that once were the domains of nerds and geeks—video games, Internet destinations like Wikipedia, YouTube, MySpace, Facebook, Skype; technological gear like Bluetooth headsets and BlackBerries; the literary genres that encompass Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, and Twilight; pop culture remixes like Transformers and X-Men; activities like forwarding or embedding viral videos and blogging—provide ample evidence that a once-stigmatized subculture is now embraced and thriving.
So, too, can teenage nerds and geeks find this acceptance. While there have been surprisingly few trickle-down effects from the adult Age of the Nerd to the student world, they have been positive. Some student bodies have acknowledged a “cool nerd” subset, for example. More important, many teenage nerds and geeks now choose to celebrate their label rather than allow it to imprison them. These outcasts are rising up, exulting in the “geek cred” that differentiates them from other groups and the knowledge and precision that, as Geoffrey suggested, eventually will enable them to profit financially (as have, to name a few, Paul Allen, Sergey Brin, Larry Ellison, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Larry Page, and Steve Wozniak, some of whom themselves exemplify quirk theory). They are realizing at an early age that the geeks (and loners, punks, floaters, dorks, and various other outcasts) shall inherit the earth.
Some students are fighting their marginalization by co-opting typically derogatory terms. In 2009, four twelve-to-fourteen-year-olds won the New York City FIRST LEGO League Robotics Championship under the team name Nerd Herd. The St. Edmund School students, finalists at the Robotic World Festival, told the Gothamist how they came up with the name: “I was looking across the lunchroom and I saw the rest of the team doing some nerdy things,” said Simon Shkreli. “Now I have to make a good name. Geek Squad (NO!). Nerd Dudes (almost). Nerd . . . HERD! (YES!)”
Caitlin and her friends, seniors at a small all-girls school in North Carolina, call their group “drama dorks.” Caitlin listed the following as her “dork” qualities: “I’m in my second year of AP Calculus. I’m taking AP Statistics as an elective. I work as a techie for drama, can recite Star Wars movies, watch anime religiously, can write Java computer code and HTML, and write fan fiction and original novels in my free time. I have a T-shirt