The nerd stereotype is well known throughout the American culture. We see it all over television, the internet, and occasionally our schools. The stereotypical “nerd” look is almost always the same. Although there are many qualities that make a nerd what they are there are only a few things that really stand out. When someone says the word “nerd,” I immediately imagine a person who is socially awkward, has thick glasses, and of course one who is very smart. I believe being socially awkward plays a huge part in the stereotype. The reason being is simply because they would rather be at home studying than taking the time to meet other people. Nerds tend to isolate themselves and begin to lack a social life, therefore meeting or talking to other
peers later on can be intense. There may be times where nerds may not know what is in style or appropriate to say around other people making themselves sound abnormal or weird. One of the most typical nerd stereotype is that they wear glasses. While I was reading and doing my own research, I have found that looking at computer screens often and even reading a book close up can affect vision especially in young adults and children. My theory for why it is a stereotype that nerds wear glasses is because they read and are on their computers frequently. Many of them seem to lack a sense of fashion norms while other nerds lack the motivation or understanding to follow these norms. That being said, most nerds seem to be content with their own appearance and see no reason to change. Being smart is of course the topping on the cake for the nerd stereotype. They are defined as one who is highly intelligent. Being smart has been associated with nerds from the start. It is common for nerds to be overachievers and study constantly. The pursuit of knowledge and understanding is one of the primary things most nerds take pride in. Nerds are society’s evolving stereotype. I do not believe people should be judged by physical appearance, but it is normal for society to categorize people on their wardrobe and their actions. People tend to assign others a title like “nerd”. Some people label other people, but I have to say that I am quite fond of people who are smart. Socially awkwardness, glasses, and smartness makes the nerd stereotype almost complete!
depict nerds how I described them are just reinforcing that definition and basically making it permanent. Second, when kids grow up seeing how nerds are depicted and that they get made fun of, it will make them not want to be like that. But, in reality nerds are the real winners. Nerds will be the happy ones with the stable job and bright future. We do not want our future kids growing up with this image of nerds in their head. One could say that nerds have been seen like this since the beginning and that hasn't affected how kids grow up. Lastly, if a kid that looks like the stereotypical nerd and he gets treated like one he will brand himself like a nerd. That could wouldn’t be able to reach his full potential if he feels mistreated or
Everyone treats the titles of a geek and a nerd as objective but, looking deep enough one should be able to find a subjective and definite definition. These can be found by looking into some dictionaries the article as the author tries to do in, “Nerd, Geek, Dweeb, Twerp — In Computer Lingo, Which One Are You?” in Community College Week by Reid Goldsborough. He finds that many of these definitions do not agree and looks to see if there is a definite answer and makes an attempt to find a modernized answer.
High school can be a place full of cliques and groups of friends but some people aren’t always in cliques. If there is a person who doesn’t always like the same things as other people they might not fit in with a group of people. In high school a person may become different and not find a group of friends that they fit in with. With no group of friends a person in high school may start to become an outcast. Laurie Halse Anderson, the author of Speak used Melinda to show that any high school student can become an outcast.
Have you ever met someone who acted just as teens are stereotyped? Not many people have because they do not exist. Real teens are poorly portrayed in the media and are the complete opposite of their stereotypes. Books and TV shows make teens out to be wild or crazy, irresponsible and out of control. One hardly ever hears about teen-heroes. Instead, newspapers and magazines are plastered with stories of teens and crime. And while looking at commercial billboards and other related media, the regular teen seems to be sex-crazed and image-obsessed.
Adolescence and high school years are marked by the development of identity, relationships, and societal roles. It is during this time that adolescents begin to place a significant amount of importance to whether they belong or not, their physical appearance, and friendships. During this time, everyone experiences being labeled or classified into a category that more than likely, they do not belong to. This is because society tends to place people in groups according to hobbies, personality traits, and common interests. In most cases, stereotypes motivate this kind of behavior. For example, there is a saying that says, “Tell me who your friends are and I will tell you who you are.” In other words, your companions say a lot about who you are as an individual. These assumptions are what
In the opening two paragraphs of the passage, Fridman brings up two points of view of what a nerd is; his opinion and a dictionary's definition. His personal definition is that a nerd is someone who is “intellectually curious and academically serious.” (3-4). Whereas in the Webster’s New World Dictionary a nerd/geek is “a street performer who shocks the public by biting off heads of live chickens”(6-7). There is a great disconnect between these two definitions.
Many stereotypes are used throughout the series. One of the first stereotypes that are introduced is portrayed through Leonard, Sheldon, Howard, and Raj. These four men would be classified as “nerds”; socially awkward, unstylish, and not attractive. The men in this show are not the only ones that are portrayed as “nerds”. Amy, another physicist, is super smart when it comes to the universe around her, but she too is unattractive and doesn’t know how to go about attracting men. Another stereotype that includes the image of “nerds” is Raj. He has a problem when it comes to speaking to women, he can’t. He freezes up and just stares at them, sometimes he even walks away or hi...
Many also perceive smart people "nerds" as been unpopular social outcasts. This is not true many smart people are actually quite popular in school and society.However, these are also those handful of smart people who are unpopular but most of the times these people are overachievers. The reason these overachieving smart people are unpopular is because of the ones lack of time to participate in popular activities and not for been smart.
Imagine being alone with no friends and no one to talk to. Now, place yourself in a location where you are surrounded by closed tight-knit groups where acceptance from those groups is a challenge to obtain. Then, picture yourself back when you were in high school, but this time, apply the image you have created for yourself. Do you wish for acceptance? Or friendship? Do you feel confident in taking the challenges that high school will bring? High school has a significant impact on an individual’s development. Whether it is their personality or behavior, an individual who goes through high school can see changes in their characteristics. A common stereotype in high school that is largely portrayed in the media is the existence of cliques. Cliques can give an individual a sense of belonging or a sense of betrayal. These two behaviors are commonly seen with the acceptance or rejection from these groups. An immediate result from these two actions is a change in morale or confidence for that individual. Cliques exist in high school due to individual conformity. An individual conforms to the group in order to feel accepted or to feel secured. Groups or cliques in high school have a significant negative effect on an individual’s development of characteristic and personality and the reasons as to why individuals join these types are not justified.
In a society that likes to put people into categories based on certain defining characteristics, Leonid Fridman highlights how “nerds” and “geeks” receive unfair treatment for being smart. In his argument, Fridman goes to highlight how our culture, especially in the United States, looks down upon people who are “intellectually curious and academically serious.” Leonid Fridman is able to construct a compelling argument by illustrating how children are dissuaded from being smart and hardworking at an early age, depicting intellectuals as the damsel in distress, and by illuminating the ostracization of intellectuals in the U.S. specifically.
One very common school stereotype archetype is the loner. They say a loner is one that prefers not to deal with others. People often refer to the loner group as hermits, recluse, introverts, and outsiders. Those people are the extreme loners. A loner is normally very quiet and just observes events that are going on around them.
In today's society, our natural reaction is to put people into a specific class that we feel they fit into upon our first impression. When we were in high school, they were called clicks. There were your jocks and your cheerleaders, who were usually the most popular students. Along with stoners, nerds, and then the people who really didn't fit into any crowd, they were just there. When we were in high school, all of us wanted to be in the "cool crowd". As described in When I was growing Up by Nellie Wong, "I discovered the rich white girls...imported cotton dresses...and thought that I too should have what these lucky girls had..." In stereotyping people, we perhaps have ruined some great minds.
The second group, known campus-wide, is the nerds because they are obsessed with books, constantly studying and learning about their interests. The nerds are usually annoying with their obnoxious laughter regarding a really stupid joke. The nerds wear a nice shirt with a bow tie, or a tie and a nicely ironed dress pants and always has a pocket protector to prevent ink stains from their pens. The nerd spends their school night with a tight schedule for recreation, school homework, and learning new things that captures their interests. Computer programming, calculator programming, the biology of their pet frog are some of the common things that interests the nerds.
The term stereotype is usually referred to be a term of abuse. It gives society a short cut to identify and categorize people. The word also evokes a consensus among all of society. According to the Oxford English Dictionary Online, the word geek was introduced as the lowest of carnival performers, often displaying acts of swallowing live animals. It evolved in the 20th century to represent a person who is highly intelligent yet lacks the ability to socialize. This representation inflicts psychological and social behaviors that often consider geeks as outcasts and victim to abuse from the ...
In this society, both introverts and extroverts may feel different as that lack the valued characteristics of the other group. Introverts may be criticized for their lack of social participation as they tend to be over stimulated and overwhelmed when attempting to follow the pace of extroverted peers. Extroverts on the other hand would feel impatient and lonely when energizing situations are not available to them. In conclusion, being an introvert doesn’t make one more inferior than extroverts, both traits are needed in order for a well-balanced society. Regardless of what personality trait you may have, it is important to nurture your own type of personality and adjusting to life as one’s life path should be measured according to your own purpose and values, not external achievements.