Revenge of the Nerds Prompt (Anzhe Zhang)

I think a common problem prevalent in our society is this promotion of masculinity, anti-intellectuallism, and, in a way, violence. In the clip from the Revenge of the Nerds, the coach is angry because his kids were not holding up to the stereotyped trappings of the clique they were in. They were made ashamed for being feminine, and most of all, losing to a bunch of guys who were physically inferior.

To compare this to last night's reading ("The Alpha Geeks"), this strain of intellectualism as a very uncool thing has been promoted through movies, music, politicians, and as shown in this movie, our mentors. We are taught from a very young age that the socialization of boys, as physical and loud is normal, and that if you would rather read a book than go play football, you're suddenly a nerd. We romanticize the male as powerful and affirmative due to centuries of reinforcement, but have we ever thought why boys are looked down upon just because they rather read a book than play football? It would be silly to suggest that books are inherently "un-boy-like", but a large part of society view it that way.

I think we are getting better with this however, and with the modern geek "movement", we've become more accepting, and we're now seeing intellectualism as a sign of coolness, not a symbol of shame.