3. Extraordinary Stories
    4. Extraordinary Stories 2019
    5. Geek Chic in the 21st Century

Extraordinary Stories

   Geek Chic in the 21st Century
   27 Mar 2019

Geek Chic in the 21st Century

Now that nerd culture is so pervasive, what does it mean to be a nerd?
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   By Courtney Suciu

   Believe it or not, there was a time when being called a nerd or geek
   was an insult. But these days, nerdiness and geekdom are mainstream.
   Having a passion for comics and anime, being tech savvy, possessing an
   intellectual curiosity – these are no longer characteristics of an
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   professor at Johns Hopkins University and, despite his influence on the
   crossover of nerd and pop cultures, Dolby admitted, “I am no more
   comfortable in my geek skin now than in 1982.”

   To understand why it was so bad to be considered a nerd in the 1980s,
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   However, the internet has played a major role in changing perceptions
   of what it means to be a nerd, and who identifies as a geek.

   In the same Times article, Dave Goetsch, co-executive producer of “The
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The evolution of nerd culture

   In his dissertation Geek Cultures: Media and Identity in the Digital
   Age^3, Jason Tocci focused on cultural developments which led to the
   transition of “labels like 'geek' and 'nerd' from schoolyard insults to
   sincere terms of identity.”

   He explained, “Though such terms maintain negative connotations to some
   extent, recent years have seen a growing understanding that ‘geek is
   chic’ as computers become essential to daily life and business,
   retailers hawk nerd apparel, and Hollywood makes billions on sci-fi,
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   In order to understand this transition, Tocci’s “ethnographic study”
   reveals that the “emergence of geek culture represents not a sudden
   fad, but a newly visible dimension of identity that demonstrates how
   dispersed cultures can be constructed through the integration of media
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   In other words, the “nerd” identity isn’t homologous – in fact “nerd”
   and “geek” (which he explains, despite attempts to define them
   differently, are synonymous and can be used interchangeably), have
   multiple, contradictory meanings which yield to and defy stereotypes,
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   Tocci found that there are four basic nerd identities: “misfit, genius,
   fan, and chic.” However, his research focused on the types of nerd that
   pre-existed – and contributed – to the emergence of “geek chic.”

   Technological developments resulting in “financial successes of
   high-profile geeks [like Bill Gates] have popularized the idea that
   nerdy skills can be parlayed into riches and romance” so that the
   advantages and appeal of being a certain kind of nerd were suddenly
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     coordinate creative projects and social gatherings; and faster and
     more widespread circulation of symbols - from nerdcore hip-hop to
     geek-sponsored charities – confirming the existence of a whole
     network of individuals with shared values.

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   For example, starting in the early 2000s, such a crossover movement
   manifested within hip hop culture. On one hand, there was the emergence
   of “nerdcore,” (also known as “geeksta rap”) defined in the 2008
   documentary Nerdcore for Life^4 as “geek rap, nerd rap, as rappers who
   rap about video games, computers, technology, stuff like that.”

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       American Cinema after 1980. Available from Academic Complete and
       ProQuest One Academic.
    3. Tocci, J. Geek Cultures: Media and Identity in the Digital Age
       (Order No. AAI3395723). Available from ProQuest Dissertations and
       Theses Database and ProQuest One Academic.