The Anti-Nerd

Twitter is more than a social network for me; it’s a place where I can engage in thought provoking conversation with fellow nerds, blerds (the portmanteau term for Black or Brown Nerd), geeks, and bleeks about various hobbies, interests, and perspectives on pop culture. What struck me the other day was a Twitter conversation that I had with one of my favorite nerd boys, Rafael Martinez aka @badasskid. We both share a disdain for the TV show Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD and at times, have spent a significant amount of time discussing the origin stories of superhero comic book characters. He’s just a guy who’s into nerdy stuff just like me. He doesn’t judge me or condescend to my nerdy passions and interests, which is why I enjoy following him on Twitter. The other night he sent me an article via Twitter about how Marvel Studios is in talks to create an Agent Carter spinoff series. There was a hyperlink to another website called ComingSoon.net that probes deeper into the story about Agent Carter and the possible TV adaptation.

After perusing the article, I read the comment thread below and was disgusted by the disparaging sexist remarks from nerds (mostly male of course) about Agent Carter’s sexual anatomy among other bigoted statements about how a woman carrying the role of the lead would not work well on television.

I tweeted to him my contempt for the comments and he replied by stating that he prefers to be called an “anti-nerd”. This stemmed from a series of tweets between our exchange on Twitter. He believes that so much of nerd culture is anti-women and that he does not associate with those kinds of nerds. This would include nerds who have chauvinist attitudes towards women and nerds who choose to exclude people of color from nerd culture. Sadly, during this same evening, I saw a tweet from @ButerflySamurai who expressed how a friend of hers received a racist comment on her Facebook page about cosplaying at NYCC. There was an article published in PC Mag online about geeks of color electing to cosplay as non-Black characters and being ridiculed and derided by non-Black nerds and geeks for their costume choices. There have been countless articles and content on the web about Black nerds receiving vitriol for their cosplay choices as well as their participation in nerd culture.

Nerd culture seems to only have a place of acceptance in a very small space. A space that is very white and very male. 

My Twitter conversation with Rafael was intriguing to me because he’s been open about the times when he was perceived by others for not being nerdy enough. He decided to adopt the term anti-nerd and embrace the term “blerd” because it separated himself from the archaic term “nerd” which in fact was a term first coined in the 1950s in the Dr. Seuss book, If I ran the Zoo (1950). The definition of the word at that time referred only to white males. Mary Bucholtz did a study about nerdiness and evaluated that nerdiness is a form a “hyperwhiteness” and it rejects African American culture which has been regarded as cool, the antithesis of nerdiness. Rafael endured criticism for not being “nerdy enough” likely due to this historical trope that nerdiness is related to “hyperwhiteness”.

The definition of hyperwhiteness, according to Word Spy, is relating to speech and dress patterns devoid of non-white influences, particularly among nerds. This hyperwhiteness mentality is what lends to lack of street credibility and having swag. Are nerds who have street cred, swag, and are cooler than cool not nerds? Are they in the fact the anti-nerd?

Being a nerd has evolved into being more than just the nerdy white guy wearing a pocket protector with a button down plaid shirt, khaki pants, and coke bottle glasses. A nerd can look like anyone. They look like you or me. However, for women and people of color, are we nerds or anti-nerds? I’m not suggesting we reject the term nerd because I like being called a nerd and I have no qualms about adopting all of what is considered to be a part of nerd culture. However, as a blerd, if I choose to embrace my blerdniess as opposed to generic nerdiness than what does that mean exactly? The blerd community is a place of solidarity for nerds of color. It’s a safe place where we are free to embrace and express our unique sense of self. There is a no-judgment zone within the blerd community and we welcome blerds to cosplay as non-Black characters and for women to have a prolific voice in our community. Our fandom extends to fantasy TV shows like Sleepy Hollow that have a Black female protagonist and we also are open minded towards more Anglocentric shows like Game of Thrones. The lack of judgment stems from the fact that we embrace diversity rather than oppose it. We prefer to be progressive rather than stick to antiquated ideas or traditions. Many of us nerds of color are ethnically diverse in our racial makeup anyway which is what allows our sense of diversity to come so natural for us.

It is an interesting concept to marinate on with respect to nerdiness. Would you call yourself an anti-nerd and reject outdated notions of nerdiness? Would you prefer you call yourself a blerd and express your sense of diversity in nerd culture? Or would you prefer no labels and just ride the waves of nerd culture expressing no judgment? Perhaps it is more appealing to reject labels and simply surround yourself with like-minded people who share your passions and interests. I choose to reject the nerd of yesteryear and embrace the nerd of today. If that means I am an anti-nerd, then perhaps I am. I am a Black Girl Nerd who breaks stereotypes and lives in a world that moves forward and not backward.

J.