Friday, January 25, 2013

Is It Best to Date a Nerd, a Geek, or a Dork?

In the typical terminology of the more youthful classes, there's a variety of types: socials, skaters, hoods, jocks, rednecks, freaks, emos, and others.  The point is that teens and young adults, to a lesser degree, tend to sort people out into discrete categories.  There are also three additional categories that tend to be terms of disparagement.

First of all, there's the nerd.  Nerds tend to be studious, have few interests, and are socially obtuse.  They grind away at their obsessions, often abstruse ones.  Hot witches have no chance for having a nerd boyfriend, unless he's a band nerd, and would appreciate her differentness.  Nerds may be more fashionable, by the way.

 
Then there's the geeks.  Historically, a geek was a person in a carnival sideshow who entertained the public by biting the heads off of chickens or other intellectual pursuits.  However, the meaning of the term has evolved into a person with unusual interests, and often highly skilled in something requiring a lot of knowledge.  Computer geeks come to mind.  Best Buy calls its computer service department the Geek Squad, and they ride around in  cool VW Bugs or trucks with the Geek Squad logo.
 
Geeks are subcategorized into computer geeks, math geeks, sci-fi geeks, comic geeks, science geeks, history geeks, and other categories of convenience.
 
I would be happy to data a geek.  They are often funny and interesting.  They also tend to bestow imaginative presents.
 
 
 
But dorks are a special case.
 
Originally, a dork was a whale penis.  Well, I guess whale thingies are impressive enough to require their own word.  However, this word did devolve into a reference as to social ineptness.  In short, dorks might tend to do embarassing things.  And people around them receive guilt by association.  Moreover, dorks are usually deliberate in their dorkitude.

Are nerddom, geekdom, and dorkdom male-only preserves?  

Typically, the usual schemata for these three social types uses as its base a socially odd or misfit young male.  We don't usually describe older men or women as nerds, viewing studiousness as acceptable behavior when chronological adults do it.  However, sometimes girls are cast in the nerd role, as in a recent episode of The Middle on television.  And this ginger girl was attractive enough to engage the interest of Axel, the  quintessinal jock.  Maybe nerddom is becoming acceptable for girls.  After all, they can easily shed the part and reveal their latent sexiness simply by removing their glasses, according to television or movies.

There are female geeks; one subcategory of them are the gamer girls.  Geek girls with highly prized skills are esteemed; and are great companions to engineers.  A geek-geek romance is made in heaven.



Dorkdom is a male-only preserve.  Anyway, what girl would aspire to be a dork?  Some are born dorks; some achieve dorkiness; and some have dorkdom thrust upon them.

Only one further issue.  Are females of these types, nerdesses and geekesses?  I prefer geek goddesses!

13 comments:

Big Sky Heidi said...

Nerds really don't have to be dull, you know! What often defines someone into one of these types is an absence of balance, being single-minded and eccentric rather than being into a variety of things. You can avoid being labeled a nerd if you both make good grades or are studious but also are a cheerleader or play volleyball, or something.

Grand Crapaud said...

I've known a few dorkesses...

Elvis Wearing a Bra on His Head said...

Thank God for geek girls!

Nice post. I enjoyed the 'geeks bearing gifts.'

Mike said...

When I first saw the nerd picture I thought something else was going on.

Bilbo said...

I would probably have been considered a nerd in high school, as we weren't technologically sophisticated enough to be called geeks. I suppose I'm still a history nerd, but like to think that my social skills are a bit better now. And just for the record, I've met a number of true geek goddesses over the years.

The Mistress of the Dark said...

I'm somewhere between a nerd and a geek in my girlieness

Anemone said...

I was a lousy student, so I could not be a nerd. Yet the socials didn't want me and I wa not into the rough crowd. Hence surfing, and option we have in CA. It's something you can go into as much as you want. I was just a surf bunny.

eViL pOp TaRt said...

Heidi -- Many nerds don't see the importance of social cues.

Crapasud -- I'm one

Elvis -- Thank you.

Mike -- Since he's a nerd, no.

Bilbo -- Nerds are cool too. But there are also history geeks. Some even go in for cosplay as historical figures and show up at Renaissance Faires.

Mistress -- Me too.

Anemone -- Surf bunnies are cool. We don't have much in the way of waves on the Gulf Coast, though.

Candice said...

I got myself a geek and I'm pretty happy about it. :)

Françoise said...

Mine is a geek also and he makes me so happy.

Kristen Drittsekkdatter said...

I'm glad that nerds and geeks are more acceptable. There is hope nowadays. I was a stereotypical nerd girl. Not always fun.

Duckbutt said...

Even dorks need love. Been there.

TexWisGirl said...

like zooey deschanel - totally cute and geeky. :)