I love how ‘geek’ has become ‘cool’

Ten years ago, if you were a devoted Star Wars fan or had a Spock poster on your wall, you were a geek. If you loved computer games, or achieved straight A’s for Maths, or had perfect grammar and spelling, you were a nerd. Which used to be a bad thing, right? Right? I know that I never enjoyed it as a nickname.


Now, a decade later, the roles have been reversed. Websites like theoatmeal have humorous comics about the proper usages of the term ‘irony’ and if you don’t understand xkcd, you may as well give up on social interaction.

No longer are we ruled by pretty blondes with no brain cells and brawny beefcakes without a shred of wit, but rather by the Liz Lemon, glasses-wearing geek-girls and the slightly off-beat, cardigan-shod Adam Brody’s of Hollywood.

Beauty will always be important, but if you can’t hold your end of a conversation about the implications of global warming, and you don’t understand jokes about spherical chickens, your pretty face won’t get you far.

I’m certain that it isn’t restricted to my getting older and people maturing, and that high schools are still filled with nasty blonde cheerleading beauty-queens ruling the social order. Movies that dominated my teen years about geeky guys desperately trying to get pretty girls probably don’t even mean anything to the tweens of today. The hottest teen-crush of today is a pale vampire with a skinny body, while the heartthrob singer uses more beauty products than I do.

I second the revolution and am giving it up to all those who endured years of torture in high school. Happy binary day to you all!