There seems to be this misconception that the quieter, more introverted people in society are somehow the nicest. While they may seem polite at face value or super-intelligent and innocent, there are many who are the deepest sexists, racists and homophobes. Now many of you have not known many nerdy people in your time, when I say many I am speaking of 10+ different people with different personalities.

Your experience with nerds may be limited to a trip periodically to GameStop, your college campus and probably the internet. Still this is actually a good gauge because nerds do vary much, you have your Sci-Fi nerds, your sports geeks, your video game nerds, anime otakus and of course your all-around nerd. Some people dabble in nerd activities but cannot truly be classified as one due to having interests and a personality that spans beyond the umbrella of the standard fit. Still at face value you will tend to think these guys as harmlessly adorable, well think again.

Nerd Tunnel Vision
Much of the way some of my fellows act is due to what I like to call “Nerd Tunnel Vision”, though not exclusive to nerds per se, it is a trait that any human being that limits himself to one type of fellowship will develop. It’s similar to small town syndrome where the lack of exposure to people who look differently, think differently and behave differently from you can cause you to have a narrow scope on tolerance. It’s like the Midwest gal whose exposure to Latinos has been limited to television and movies, the old man who cannot fathom people being different from how they were “back in his day”. It’s tunnel vision and sometimes it is hard to realize you are this way especially if you lack the exposure of a more liberated person.

Nerds who were outcast as kids or adults find solace and comfort either to themselves or with other people who have been treated the way they have. They will hang out with people who “get them” or share their strange sense of humor, it’s human nature after all. So out of a group of outcasted, introverted set of people who look the same, act the same and feel the same, you are bound to get some opinions that don’t vibe well with the rest of the outside community. At times these opinions will wow you by the level of ignorance and lack of empathy they hold. No worries, we will delve into a few examples to enlighten you on Nerd Rage.

Examples of Nerds being sexist/racist without realizing it

Star Wars should not have female Jedi:
I used to work with a guy who was a big sports geek and Star Wars fan. Being a Star Wars fanboi myself (hell I can tell you all the saber forms and Jedi ranks) he and I would have some good conversations. One day after Star Wars Episode 2 launched, I asked him how he felt about the movie. To my disappointment he began to tell me how he took issue with the idea of women being Jedis and how it ruined the movie for him. I wanted to ask him how he felt about the black Jedi Mace Windu but I left it alone since I was recovering from his blast about the women. Personally I was excited to finally see Shaak Ti and Luminara in action but this guy would probably scoff at me if I were to share that with him. I guess if you aren’t Aunt Beru mixing up some good Spice cuisine in the kitchen you have no place in my man’s Star Wars universe… what about Leia, did he miss the part where Luke said he could teach her the ways of the Force? Jackass.

Do not change my all white fantasy world to a multi-cultural one!
When that awful movie Dare-Devil with Ben Affleck launched, I heard many of the comic book purists, as in white purists opine the choice of casting the King Pin as Michael Clarke Duncan. Now a suitable counter for me would have been to point out that the murdering King Pin was a negative character so it wasn’t doing black any favors but I listened and stared as they went on about how much it ruined the movie. How can you argue with guys like this, I’d rather stick my (wait) into an ant nest. The same activity was carried out when one of the Harry Potter characters (Cho Chang) was cast as an Asian girl… yes I’m serious. Shameful, with the shots being fired back literally across racial lines with the casting of newer non-white characters from comics/anime as white in movies, this argument has ebbed and flowed between the races. Nerds dislike change, this above all else is a fact.

White liberal racists and the use of IRONY as a pass for poor taste.
I see this crap all day long all over the internet, clueless racists unaware that they are behaving in a racist manner. To them racists are the loud, confederate flag waving yahoos on the movies, dropping N-bombs and lynching black people. Their snarky remarks made with much irony is meant to show their enlightened viewpoint and since they aren’t mean, they can’t possibly be racist? At least that’s what they think.  They bemoan being white and oppressed, attribute any kind of black complaint to being a complaint with no base since “black people are the racist ones” is the only viewpoint they will ever see. I hate to pick on them since hell everyone hates them, and there are entire sites dedicated to shitting on them daily. Just realize this free spirits, a racist can also be a very nice guy too, calm down on the “Ironic” jokes, they’re not funny.

Black liberal racists and the ever-elusive RACE CHASE.
Remember that guy Kanye West and his little stunt prior to disappearing out of the limelight to preserve what little PR he has left? Well I equate West to a lot of the newer, black, wannabe-freedom fighter, soap-box toting, “I wear my hair natural”, nerds on the internet (ya I went there). It’s as if the big race war passed them by and they were stuck taking a shit during the melee only to emerge, sword in hand, ready to fight but with little to nothing left to kill and make a name from. While many, many things deserve to be called out and checked for racial undertones, these Kanye-types attack ANYTHING, therefore taking the focus further away from real issues. These guys will tell you that a cup of milk is racist for being white, or the white lines on the road is racist for laying all over the black asphalt. When Avatar became the most popular movie of 2009 and every black blogger made it their mission to call it white-guilt, it made me think about this very paragraph right here. Disappointing is what this crap is, you all make things worse than better. This does not include the good blogs who point out real injustices and inform people, just the 99% of the other fodder shooting rubber arrows in hope of them sticking.

So the next time a good friend or family member tells you they’ve met a nice guy/girl but he/she is a bit of a nerd you may want to run for the hills. Okay I am just kidding, but if you didn’t realize it before this article, I would hope you do by now that a silent group does not much equate to a docile or nice group. The word nerd does not automatically equate smart like it used to back when it was a word of insult. It means many things and you can add closed-minded to the meaning list too. How do I know? Well lets just say I know a nerd or two, now when you read a reply on a gaming or movie blog that makes your blood just boil, just think in regard to who may have written it and it will make sense to you. Catch my drift?

Related Posts:

1. The Flawed Definition of Nerd
2. Do your Really Love Nerds – Or Just The Idea of Nerds?
3. Foggy Lenses: A Sexual Guide for Super Nerds
4. The Death of the Internet Forum
5. The Reason People Laugh At LARPs

Written by Greg Dragon on Thursday, January 21, 2010 
Filed under People are Strange, The Code of Man, The Nerdiest Topics · Tagged with anime, Asian, attitude, Fetish, geek, internet, jackass, nerd, nice guy, Video Games