Nerd Stereotypes Essay

Final Fantasy of the Nerd Stereotype In today’s modern society, there are many stereotypes used to categorize people by their race or social standing. Everyone has watched a movie or television show that has used stereotypes like the dumb jock, the snobby cheerleaders, or the socially awkward nerd. Our society has become sensitive on the issue of racial stereotypes, but these negative social stereotypes receive little attention. Perhaps the most common and hurtful of these social terms is the aspects of being a nerd. Some view the word as derogatory and hurtful while others feel that it’s nothing more than a normal social label. To help form opinions, this paper will delve into the history of the word and the differing views of today’s society. The definition of the word nerd is to be a socially awkward, boring, unstylish, intelligent person who is obsessed with a nonsocial hobby (Dictionary). The word was first used in a book by Dr. Seuss entitled “If I Ran a Zoo”

Phillips 2 in 1950 (Theweek). In this book, a nerd was depicted as a strange, awkward creature that people viewed like an animal for enjoyment. Children soon commenced utilizing the term as a type of slang for other children whom they found weird and different. A Google search will show the word nerd, and the images
A modern day example of television nerds would be a majority of the cast in the show “The Big Bang Theory.” The show is described as a woman who moves into an apartment across the hall from two brilliant, but socially awkward physicists shows them how little they know about life outside of the laboratory (IMDB). The cast consists of a couple of guys and girls who are extremely gifted physic majors, but their conversations consist of physics, Star Wars, and Comic-Con while being filled with complicated words that most could not even fathom. The show goes on to mock what they think is the everyday life of