Post by Squishalot
Mentally remind myself that stereotyping = bad, and that people who stereotype (edit: themselves) = compensating for something missing in their lives, that they feel the need to attach a vapid, meaningless tag to themselves in an attempt to feel accepted as part of a group.
Well you certainly know how to rain on a parade, don't you?
It's raining over here, and I'm coming down with a cold. I'm not in a great mood. That, and it's May 26th over here at the moment, so I definitely don't mind raining down on this parade now.
How far would you extend this sentiment, exactly? Attachment of "meaningless" tags to oneself and others could be extended very far, depending on the school of thought. Would you say that labeling oneself or others as "Christian" is meaningless? How about labeling oneself as an "American" or "European"? Sure, these labels might have a little more meaning to some than they do to others; but to some "Geek" might have just as much meaning as "Muslim" or "Australian".
You see, there is a great big difference to those who label themselves as Christian, compared to the 'geeks' celebrating World Geek Day. Let me illustrate:
Christian (or Jewish) Reponsibilities:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ten_Commandments (using the Anglican / other Christian list)
You shall have no other gods before me
You shall not make for yourself an idol
You shall not make wrongful use of the name of your God
Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy
Honor your father and mother
You shall not murder
You shall not commit adultery
You shall not steal
You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor
You shall not covet anything that belongs to your neighbor (wife included)
Geek Responsibilities:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nerd_Pride_DayBe a geek, no matter what.
Try to be nerdier than anyone else.
If there is a discussion about something geeky, you must give your opinion.
To save and protect all geeky material.
Do everything you can to show off geeky stuff as a "museum of geekiness."
Don't be a generalized geek. You must specialize in something.
Attend every nerdy movie on opening night and buy every geeky book before anyone else.
Wait in line on every opening night. If you can go in costume or at least with a related T-shirt, all the better.
Don’t waste your time on anything not related to geekdom.
Try to take over the world!
If the geek list is meaningful, then full power to you. But, although I might label myself as a geek (in the sense that you've described, as a cataloging tool), I certainly feel no drive or motivation to do anything in the above list. I think there are very few who would.
In relation to people who call themselves American or Australian, yes, those are labels. Labelling is fine, stereotyping isn't. If you suggested that I was a drunkard just for being Australian, or if I suggested that you were a radical evangelical 'let's kick the world's ass and not care what they think!' American, just for the fact that you were American, that would be stereotyping.
Attaching oneself to a group of people in the manner of labeling is no abnormal or terrible thing. It happens throughout all societies and cultures. People use labels naturally as a way of cataloging social, religious, national, and cultural groups; not to directly stereotype or insult, and not to compensate for a lack of acceptance.
When you group a bunch of people together and directly paint a stereotype over the group, I'd say that you're stereotyping it. And when you're stereotyping yourself and gathering like-minded stereotypes to you, that is an attempt to seek acceptance. But also, at least, an acknowledgement that you're not being accepted by others.
Labeling isn't a bad thing. True, labeling can evolve into stereotyping via adding traits seen as negative to a certain group; but labeling and stereotyping are not the same. "Geeks" could easily be classified as a cultural group, and the label itself gives no negative connotation. It is the
user of the label that gives it that negativity. If you're thinking of labels as a bad thing, you may want to reevaluate how you use them.
Again, let me go back to the source:
Geek Rights:
The right to be even geekier. (neutral trait)
The right to not leave your house. (socially negative trait)
The right to not like football or any other sport. (neutral trait, but considered non-social in this day and age)
The right to associate with other nerds. (neutral trait)
The right to have few friends (or none at all). (socially negative trait)
The right to have as many geeky friends as you want. (neutral trait)
The right to be out of style. (neutral / slightly negative trait)
The right to be overweight and near-sighted. (negative trait)
The right to show off your geekiness. (neutral trait)
The right to take over the world. (... wtf...? trait)
The geeks who came up with this so-called manifesto were the ones who labelled themselves and added negative traits, thereby stereotyping them. Anyone who embraces said manifesto is also, therefore, stereotyping themselves.
I often think of myself as a Geek, and I don't see any negative connotation in the word.
Then you're not embracing World Geek Day as you should be, according to the powers that be.
I don't want to be any geekier than I am (or less geekier, fair is fair). I do leave my house. I do like sport. I have plenty of friends, nerds, geeks and others. I've got a fairly mixed wardrobe that doesn't go 'out of style'. I'm not (too) overweight, and I'm not near sighted. I don't feel the need to show off my geekiness, and I certainly don't want to take over the world.
In all seriousness, I think of myself as a geek, but I wouldn't want to be involved with such a self-centered, vapid group that would propogate a negative image of themselves purely for the sake of it.
Edit: Just to be clear. I'm not against the label of geeks, I'm against the stereotyping that occurs with such a stupid 'world day'.
