tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7857882.post1142674084851937990..comments2023-11-17T11:08:31.857-06:00Comments on Michael May: The obsolescence of geeks and nerdsMichael Mayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12514945570212261283noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7857882.post-12582032238898499552012-05-01T16:45:40.332-05:002012-05-01T16:45:40.332-05:00It's a disappointing realization. What promise...It's a disappointing realization. What promised to be an egalitarian meritocracy has been revealed to be just as corrupted by the same old cultural values as everything else.<br /><br />I'm optimistic enough to hope that it's not a lost cause (I do see progress, even if it's just that people are having this discussion), but obviously there's a lot of work to be done and it's going to require deep, deep cultural change.Michael Mayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12514945570212261283noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7857882.post-40869496513439957942012-04-28T14:08:27.257-05:002012-04-28T14:08:27.257-05:00unfortunately it all creates a new hierarchy of ge...unfortunately it all creates a new hierarchy of geekness. there was at least the theory of shared exile in the past, but if geekdom is now cool, then people who are just not cool by nature no longer fit in it with the same level of comfort as in the past.<br />i was surprised (or perhaps not surprised) that the article on feminism and female objectification in geekdom focused almost exclusively on the model of sexism as a male imposition on female self-identity, but glossed over other issues that arise when a culture that was originally something of a cultural meritocracy (and refuge from conventional social pressures) is turned, by females as well as males, into simply another arena for "look at me" popularity.<br />(i personally don't object to large numbers of young women dressing like baby doll, but the mtv-ization of geek culture always struck me as a mixed blessing, when it results in simply separating a new crop of individuals into attractive & cool vs goofy or ugly or overweight etc.)ben chttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01349928470726845343noreply@blogger.com