I'm not hating on the Nerd Girls - I think education is a fabulous thing. I hate the idea that the thing that's supposedly amazing is that they like lipstick and high heels and things that "typical" girls like. Which may be more a function of how the Newsweek writers wrote them (and I think I even say this in my post) rather than who they are.
The whole idea of the NERD GIRLS arose because of a lack of females in the engineering community. The founder is a female professor who felt that she had to overcome to reach the same levels of success that she saw her male counterparts encounter with less [whatever] - typical story in any field.
The point then, that you can extrapolate, is that the NERD GIRLS are meant to be an outreach program. The image of the NERD GIRLS you see has little to do with the actual program, an image created by studios and photographers to sell an image to the bright lights and flashy colors media machine.
The NERD GIRLS are meant to show that girls who tend to shy away from science at a young age because of the stigmas attached to the 'Nerd/Geek/Whatha veyou' community which dictate that you cannot be both 'wanted/beautifuf ul/recognized/pop ular' and also study hard and use your brain for something other than color matching and body painting.
The NERD GIRLS are a good thing. Did they sell out the name a little by doing a super upbeat photoshoot/video shoot, sure. Will there be any negative side-effect as many of you have suggested, absolutely not. This will not cause girls to forget that they are smart. This will not cause girls who are smart to long for beauty any more than every magazine and tv show you've ever heard of already does. Hating (if i may use a colloquialism) on the NERD GIRLS seems to be nit-picking minor aspects of how you 'wouldn't have done this or that' and much less about constructively criticizing a group that is seeking to promote the value of education. So you're against education? Now I understand your point of view...
Love the site! That was the best smack in the jewels since "Man hit by Football in Groin" won an Academy Award. I enjoyed the science lesson as "pain receptors" let the body know to elevate pulse heart rate, etc... Maybe next time they'll show us how the amazing human body will shut down to protect itself when hit repeatedly in the head with a shovel. Sport truly is a sweet science.
You make a very valid (but terrifying) point. You gotta pick your battles. Plus I read an article about Travolta and it referenced a movie called Staying Alive, where Johnny played an oiled up half-shirted dancer. I'm guessing that had Bill & Ted by a decade (excluding any time travel scenarios).
As you can probably tell, Antisocial Networking has gone a wee bit quiet over the past few days. that's because I'm working on instituting some changes to the site and bringing some new people on board. We're going to be back and better than ever starting next Monday, July 27.
So check back then, or click on the orange RSS icon in the right-hand corner to subscribe to our feed.
I'm getting together another edition of The Doctor is In! So send in your nerdy issues and dating dilemmas to slackmistress@gmail.com and watch this space!
Also, want to be a part of the Geek Girl Advisory Board and contribute to Antisocial Networking? Pop me an email at the above address and I'll fill you in on the details!
Okay, okay, I admit it: I started online dating when digital cameras were a luxury rather than a standard item in your Tech Bag o' Tricks. Pictures next to ads were either grainy, scanned college senior portraits or blurry bar outings or even one time, a shiny professional wedding portrait with a piece of paper taped over the Ex-Missus "Funghi." (Like "Fun Guy." Get it? Um, yeah.)
But even my foray into online dating before I met my husband a couple of years ago, and a quick scan of online dating's usual suspects (note to my husband: I was doing research, I am not banging the pool boy when you're not home. Note to all: We don't have a pool.) shows page after page of the same, tired syntax.
Enjoys: Long walks on the beach at midnight.
For some reason, long walks on the beach at midnight is code for I'm a romantic. You might as well type out the contents of a Hallmark card. Anywya, have you ever been on the beach at midnight in Los Angeles? It's kind of creepy. The last time I had a late-night foray out to the beach (with an out-of-town friend who insisted) we were greeted with drug dealers, gangbangers, and homeless, oh my! Maybe the beach is different where you live. Or maybe you happen to fall into one of those categories and you're just being honest.
So: Unless you've been on the beach at midnight within the last two weeks, for the Love of Zod, leave it off.
Enjoys: Theatre.
Harmless, right? Cultural? Sure. Except when asked who their favorite playwright or play is, or when they last attended the thea-tuh, you are met with fleeting look of panic and a bunch of stumbling around abut that naked hamlet play they saw sophomore year of college.
So: Unless you're a theatre nut, leave it off.
Enjoys: Sports.
This is mostly for the ladies. I don't buy the stereotype that nerds don't care for sports, but most of the ones I've dated couldn't pick the center out of the offensive line or tell you what team Kobe Bryant plays for. A Nerdy Ex-Boyfriend once responded to Older SlackBrother J.'s query, "do you watch sports?"
I care for archery a great deal.
I do think that at the heart of it, thought, sports can be nerdy (I'm lookin' at you! baseball stats!) But for some reason, a lot of women are programmed to think that We Must Like Sports To Get Boys To Like Us. There's no rule.
So: Unless you've got a team you follow, a sport you play or watch with some regularity, or hell, you don't pull out the "you shouldn't be hitting on me, my boyfriend plays pro football in Los Angeles" as an ex-roomate of mine once did? Leave it off.
NO highlights the annoying things people put in their bios, profiles, and online dating ads. Got something that qualifies as a NO? Email me!
You wanna eat like a Superhero? A kick-ass superhero? Then check out these cool comic plates from CB2, perfect for all of your nerd-housewarming needs. If these had been around when I was getting married, you know that they would have been the first thing on my registry. Well, the second. Although most people thought our 17-item registry list filled with robots, DVDs, and a Wii was a joke, anyway. (via The Daily Dairy!)
2. It's Frakking Toast! More over Virgin Mary, a different kind of religion is coming to white bread near you. THE CYLONS ARE COMING. That's right, just in time for Comic-Con, you can get a limited edition Battlestar Galactica Toaster. Do nerds eat more toast than other people? For 65 bucks, you'd better! (via Medialoper!)
3. "Heelarious!" Get it? HEEL-ARIOUS!
I was just thinking to myself "Self, youi know what's totally unfair? Babies don't get to be slutty like the rest of us!" Enter Heelarious, "her first high heels." Or his first high heels. Why shouldn't baby crossdressers get some love, too? (via Neatorama!)
4. The Flatmistress! Okay, I don't normally plug my own stuff because this blog is pretty much one big plug. But over at the slack daily, I've got a little audience participation thing going on called "the flatmistress." It's just like Flat Stanley. But less, uh, flat. Check it out, print it out, and have fun. But not too much fun, ya pervs.
5. I Hate When the Remake the Classics. Rose McGowan has accepted the title role of the remake of Red Sonja. Can it live up to the original?
Remember when the Internet was a safe haven for the socially awkward? With the advent of social networking, we're expected to be honing our social skills online and off. Antisocialnetworking is a little bit of Nerdvana: a place to ask questions and wax poetic about the politics of dating and relating in a social networking world with your host and Nerd Yenta, the slackmistress.
Questions? Comments? Suggestions? Press the magic button below:
