You say 'geek' like it's a bad thing

[trinityvixen]

Forgive me for indulging in a last bit of Olypmics talk:

This isn't the first time I've heard this, but where did the meme start that Michael Phelps was a geek? Is this your typical, derogative simplification of a personality based on interviews with a media that found his ego insufficient given his accomplishments? Or was there a specific incident? Something Phelps said, did, implied, or enjoyed to earn himself such a reputation? Did his iPod playlist get leaked and all they found was They Might Be Giants? Someone found his plane reading material and it was all graphic novels? Did he pontificate on Lord of the RIngs or get into an argument on the merits of Kung Fu films to the Chinese economy?

I mean, this can't just happen in a vacuum. Newsweek had a blurb about another US swimmer, Amanda Beard, denying rumors of a tryst with Phelps on the basis that she has "good taste." Meaning...? Does this bitch know how cunt-y that sounds? You'd kick a boy with that body, a great relationship with his obviously nurturing mother, and even a reputation of being a geek away? Do you know how many geek girls are groaning right now? And who are suddenly paying attention at the merest hint that some jock sporto might like video games and sci-fi!? WHAT ARE YOU CRAZY!?

Comments

[edgehopper.livejournal.com]

Amanda Beard can [insert nasty obscenity-laced comment here].

I'm amazed at the weird criticism that's been fired at Phelps. He endorses Frosted Flakes, and the health nuts come out of the woodwork yelling that an Olympian could never eat that trash, and he should endorse FiberOne? He doesn't have the trash-talking, extroverted attitude we're used to from athletes, so he's a geek?

Though while we're on the topic, it's also something that's been giving me mixed feelings on the presidential election. Obama really is a nerd, which I find to be a good thing. Not a geek--that would require obscure interests, which aren't really there from a guy whose last video game was Pong. But definitely a nerd. McCain is a classic jock. Where's the Republican nerd/geek for me to vote for?

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

God forbid that the people who spend most of their waking, young lives training for the Olypmics ever cut loose. darkling1 linked me to an article about how the Olympic village turns into a fuck-festival every time because, let's face it, the athletes have turned delayed gratification into an art form that the Catholic Church would envy. No one can survive on denying themselves all pleasures forever. And that includes eating goddamned terrible for you food. Michael Phelps' regular diet includes more bad food choices than what Morgan Spurlock ate in Super Size Me.

I also find it really obnoxious that a gracious winner like Phelps, who seems to be as at home in a team as a solo swim-blitz phenom, is expected to be an arrogant asshole and is treated as a loser if he is not. So much for good sportsmanship. The part that made Phelps an attraction for me (besides the tight body and tighter bodysuits...rrrowl) was a) his amazing ability, and b) his down-to-earth attitude. He went and hugged his mother and put his medals on her neck. I want to marry that boy. If he can also play guitar to my vocals in my Rock Band, so much the better.

And if you want to know why you can't get a Republican geek contender, here's the answer: Karl Rove and Dubya made it clear that to be anything like smart in a leadership position was to thumb your nose and your straight-A report cards in the face of the "average" person. They fostered mean-spirited anti-intellectual foment, and as a result you can't put up a GOP candidate unless he's a jock who can, I dunno, crush terrorists with his ballsack. The attacks on Obama, like those on Kerry and Gore, very specifically target the idea that both know too much, put too much emphasis on (GOD FORBID) thinking. Especially "alternative" thinking like green energy, diplomacy, nuance, etc. If you get together a bunch of geeks and toss them a question like "Luke vs Anakin: which Skywalker was more influential?" They will spend thirty hours talking about the merits of the prequels, the original trilogy, and the extended universe and probably won't come up with an answer. Jocks will call them all nerds (and probably faggots besides because homophobia is a perfect way to demonstrate manhood, if the right's reactionaries are any indication), say "Vader's awesome!" and leave it at that. To which person(s) would your typical geek flock? And that's why the GOP can't count on putting a geek forward.

[edgehopper.livejournal.com]

Well, the "bad for you" food in Phelps's case has nothing to with delayed gratification--when you swim 10-12 km a day, you can pretty much eat whatever you want with no ill effects.

There are a lot of geeks in the GOP. They're all in the libertarian wing, and most of the political blogs I read fall into that category. But the GOP geeks don't run for election, they happily sit at home in their think tanks, law schools, and jobs. Meanwhile, the libertarian wing of the GOP is down at the moment, with the Christian wing declining from its peak with Bush and the national greatness wing ascending with McCain. I'm sure Meg Whitman has some geeky tendencies that we haven't heard of; she may be our best bet.

Meanwhile, while Biden isn't exactly a jock, he's got an anti-tech history that should have nerds and geeks fleeing in terror. He sponsored the RAVE act, and a bill that would make certain types of DRM circumvention a federal felony, among others. Compared to that, I'll take the uncaring jock :)

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

You're assuming that there is no delayed gratification in some calorie collecting? I doubt it. While athletes can eat what they want (Phelps has like 10,000 calories a day just to keep even), the quality of food counts for a lot. Chicken breasts, fine; McDonalds, less so. So, yeah, they might splurge on some sugary cereal after the immediate demands of sport subside. But generally you can't eat all the crap in the world and still race like Michael Phelps. There's also the element of shaming women for what they eat (Rebecca Soni being kept on a "healthful" diet and taken to task if she strayed versus Phelps' breakfasts, elevensies, brunches, lunches, dinners, teas, suppers, and midnight snacks), but that's another rant for another day.

You make the mistake of assuming that I imply there is an either-or to the GOP or the Democratic party attracting geeks. I did not. I said your typical nerd and/or geek would be drawn to the party less hostile towards their achieved, innate, and/or studied intelligence. Currently, that party is not the GOP. That does not preclude dinosaurs hiding from the technological meteors from existing in one party and text-happy Blackberry and XBOX addicts from inhabiting the other.

And regardless, jock or nerd, I'd much prefer a caring candidate, myself. The uncaring jock makes me more wary than the uncaring nerd because in the metaphor of the world as high school, the nerd gets his revenge by doing well, the jock by beating the shit out of someone who doesn't (usually) deserve it.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

Seriously. I mean, that's even more than I ate over this past, very indulgent weekend, and still: jealousy.

[wellgull.livejournal.com]

Well, swim fifteen kilometers a day, and you can eat whatever you like :)

[wellgull.livejournal.com]

The GOP doesn't really recognize or cater to the geek-libertarians; it seems the latter mainly talk to each other and listen to each other, and stick with the GOP because it more closely matches their interests than the Dems seem to.

(Won't get into any kind of discussion of the content of libertarianism at present, this is just my observation of the social map).