Accepting Nerds/Geeks/Dorks that do not look Stereotypical

[Yuno Gasai]

"You can't judge a book by its cover--"
"Yeah, and you can't confuse Rimmer with a book. For starters, a book's got a spine."

Sorry, couldn't resist turning that into a Red Dwarf quote. The point is, I don't really believe there's a general "geek" look right now, especially since you can't exactly judge someone's geekiness just by looking at them. Being a geek doesn't mean that you suddenly abandon all personal hygiene and stop taking care of your physical form!

 

[KillKill]

I look like a metal fan, probably due to my epic long hair. People never "doubt" me, since I exude anime-fan in some mysterious way and I'm Greek, not as in my parents were from Greece, I actually lived the first 17 years of my life there, so combining my appearance with the identity of "the foreign guy with the dual citizenship" somehow is outlandish enough to allow people to see me in any light possible, including that of the greeky gamer anime fan who speaks Japanese.



Sometimes, I do make it easy on them though:

Spoiler

While other times I get random people on the street asking me to join their bands:

Spoiler

That's odd beside the whole foreign thing I'm pretty much the same as you but I get a completely different reaction, no one ever seems to suspect I'm a massive nerd. Although I guess nobody would expect the 6'4" metal fan to start talking to them about Azumanga Daioh

 

[KillKill]

Double post!
FFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!

 

[Dogstile]

Oh man, I know exactly what you mean. I'm just under six foot, 14 stone but apparently I look as low as 10 stone because i'm built a bit, not fat. I also have long hair, a big ass moustache and a beard now.

People have problems accepting i'm into anything to do with computers or warhammer or even that I worked in a games workshop for a year. I'm assuming because I talk about getting my tattoos or they see me out drinking or hell, even walking a staffordshire bull terrier crossed with a pitbull (when she grows, she will be a very big, tough guy dog).

They don't see me like I am now, sat at home, surrounded by old models, stacks of games and model dragons. But I digress, if they have an issue with you looking like you do, you clearly don't want to be friends with someone so damn judgemental.

Edit: Funny how this threads made me want to change my profile picture. Damn that's out of date by like a year.

 

[The Funslinger]

I don't (usually) appear as anything... but since breaking up with my ex, have started wearing geekier t-shirts... I am an officer in the RAF, so tend to dress the part for that... smart Jeans/chinos and a polo shirt/collared shirt. I also wear rugby shirts often...

Saying that I have a side-parting... and currently a moustache (left over from being in the middle east).

My avatar shows my hair and moustache...! I also smoke a pipe (part of what lead me to grow the tache) and I am well spoken. Is that geeky? Or more just like I was born in the wrong century?

I think you and I might have a lot in common

I too feel as though I've been born in the wrong century. I have a hand carved pipe, I collect hats and try to be an utter gentleman. I'm also looking to go into the Royal Marines.

I'm also waiting for my pocket watch to arrive. When it does, I might get it engraved with Gallifreyan symbols...

OT: Well I'm kind of skinny, so I guess that sort of makes me look a little geeky. That said, I am friends with a lot of stereotypical geeks, and I do stick out from them by being (apparently) good looking, experimenting more with alcohol and pot, and pulling at parties, whereas I doubt most of my geekier friends have ever even kissed a girl. Not that I look down on them at all. At times, I admire their ability to not give a shit about relationships. They're certainly some of my best friends.

So while I'm not as extremely visually deviant as the OP, I guess I have a kind of "geek-chic" thing going on?

 

[The Funslinger]

"You can't judge a book by its cover--"
"Yeah, and you can't confuse Rimmer with a book. For starters, a book's got a spine."

Sorry, couldn't resist turning that into a Red Dwarf quote. The point is, I don't really believe there's a general "geek" look right now, especially since you can't exactly judge someone's geekiness just by looking at them. Being a geek doesn't mean that you suddenly abandon all personal hygiene and stop taking care of your physical form!

Oh I do love Red Dwarf. So much that I will never go near that abomination they call "Red Dwarf USA".

 

[Yuno Gasai]

Oh I do love Red Dwarf. So much that I will never go near that abomination they call "Red Dwarf USA".

I tried watching part of the pilot, just to see how bad it was. I really wish I hadn't. CANNOT UNSEE.

Interesting captcha: "exclaimation!"

 

[ShindoL Shill]

Captcha: Watch me.

Seriously, people, Captcha is sentient and toying with us! Why do my warnings go unheeded?!

I know! That's what I've been saying for days.
Mine is 'until tomorrow'
...
I'm creeped out.

I don't think you have to worry too much, my last one was dog waffle...

On another thread, someone had a job interview which he told us about.
The day before, his last captcha before he went offline was 'good luck'.
I think it's sentient but has some kind of computer alcohol.

 

[bojackx]

Well, I very much used to look the part of geek, ironically when I wouldn't have considered myself one. I was chunky, wore glasses and had no style to my hair at all, it was like less than an inch long. I wore nothing but black band shirts and cheap jeans that were too short. Nowadays, I have longish hair for a guy (about 4 or 5 inches?), I'm thin (I guess? I've put on weight recently but I'd still be considered thin before I'd be considered fat) and I withdrew the glasses from my wears. I now just wear lots of generic clothes, nothing that makes me stand out, but nothing that people would describe as geeky.

So as I got geekier, I got less geeky-looking. And it's a good job too, as I also got a lot more self-conscious as puberty hit (as you'd expect) so at least I can say now I'm (pretty) happy with my appearance, because I honestly can't say the geek look is at all a good one.

 

[Soxafloppin]

I'm on the same boat as you. I'm an amateur body-builder so people don't really think I'l be into games..

 

[Dreiko_v1legacy]

I look like a metal fan, probably due to my epic long hair. People never "doubt" me, since I exude anime-fan in some mysterious way and I'm Greek, not as in my parents were from Greece, I actually lived the first 17 years of my life there, so combining my appearance with the identity of "the foreign guy with the dual citizenship" somehow is outlandish enough to allow people to see me in any light possible, including that of the greeky gamer anime fan who speaks Japanese.



Sometimes, I do make it easy on them though:

Spoiler

While other times I get random people on the street asking me to join their bands:

Spoiler

That's odd beside the whole foreign thing I'm pretty much the same as you but I get a completely different reaction, no one ever seems to suspect I'm a massive nerd. Although I guess nobody would expect the 6'4" metal fan to start talking to them about Azumanga Daioh

I think the foreign thing has a pretty big impact to be honest. I do have an accent and while it's not "oh mai gah" levels of awesome people do notice it and once they realize I'm foreign their veil of preconceptions seems to be lifted to a rather large degree and they're open to a lot of possibilities.

Oh and I'm pretty tall too, I'm 6'2" .

(yes, I've had someone confuse Minato from Fayt from SO3...major facepalms were had)

Weeaboo =/= nerd/gamer, although there is some overlap of course.

I wouldn't be able to tell you the difference, for example. Unfortunately I find a large chunk of games coming out of Japan a little immature for my tastes so don't play them.

I wasn't speaking about weeaboos here, just genuine anime fans/geeks/whatever you wanna call them. Weeaboos are to us normal hardcore anime fans as basement dwellers are to typical pc game/DnD nerds, just a bad part of the fandom, so you shouldn't generalize. You don't see me misuse the Japanese language (despite the fact that I've studied it for over 7 years I don't feel the need to imbue my English texts with it) and while being a huge fan it takes more than something to be from Japan for me to like it. I just happen to like a lot of things that come from Japan, not because they come from there.


You should be able to tell the difference of a medieval-inspired futuristic getup and a modern high school outfit, you don't even need to pay much attention at all.

 

[Eamar]

I agree with some of the other women here- my gender in and of itself can catch people off guard. And I HATE it when I go into a video game/Games Workshop/comic book shop with my boyfriend and the staff flat out ignore me but talk to him, assuming he's dragged me in there.

Other than that, I love the gym and I guess I'm not bad looking (not stunningly beautiful or anything, but not exactly the stereotype), so yeah I do sometimes have to "prove myself" more than some.

 

[Rawne1980]

6 foot 2 ex british army.

Quite a well built bloke, covered in tattoo's and i've trained in jeet kune do since I was 7.

I own all Battlestar Galactica series (new and old), have my prized collection of Red Dwarf, full box sets of cartoons from the 80's and early 90's (we all love reliving our youth) and a multitude of other "collectables" some people look down on. I've also been a gamer since 1985.

Do people accept who I am?

Did I mention i'm quite a big bloke?

They either accept me or I hurt them....

 

[CoL0sS]

Hah, if I find any, I'll let you know.
I honestly have more trouble actually finding people that like the same stuff as I do than fitting into a group of people I have little in common. I'll attribute it to my natural charm, wit and childish curiosity
To me, the idea of people scorning and dismissing others just because they don't fit their concept of something is absurd. Opinions like "You have to like x to be a real y" or "That can't possibly like xyz same way I do" are ludicrous and a product of elitism and stupid need to label people.
I say be yourself, take pleasure in your interests and give everyone a chance to surprise you.

 

[DustyDrB]

I've been told I look like the stereotypical preppy douche in an 80's movie about high school/college kids.

So basically...you can all make like a tree and get out of here.

 

[Elementary - Dear Watson]

I think you and I might have a lot in common

I too feel as though I've been born in the wrong century. I have a hand carved pipe, I collect hats and try to be an utter gentleman. I'm also looking to go into the Royal Marines.

I'm also waiting for my pocket watch to arrive. When it does, I might get it engraved with Gallifreyan symbols...

That is awesome... I have a pocket watch too! It has the RAF crest on the front, and if you clock the top twice the back opens and you can see the workings! I wear it in the waist coat of my mess gear!

Spoiler: Looks kinda like this, but we never do the jacket button up, so that you can see the waistcoat/cummerbund underneath!

Good luck with the RM though! That sounds like it could be a damn good crack!

 

[The Funslinger]

I think you and I might have a lot in common

I too feel as though I've been born in the wrong century. I have a hand carved pipe, I collect hats and try to be an utter gentleman. I'm also looking to go into the Royal Marines.

I'm also waiting for my pocket watch to arrive. When it does, I might get it engraved with Gallifreyan symbols...

That is awesome... I have a pocket watch too! It has the RAF crest on the front, and if you clock the top twice the back opens and you can see the workings! I wear it in the waist coat of my mess gear!

Spoiler: Looks kinda like this, but we never do the jacket button up, so that you can see the waistcoat/cummerbund underneath!

Good luck with the RM though! That sounds like it could be a damn good crack!

You get to dress like that?

Dammit, I wish I had the perfect vision needed to be in the RAF...

Nah, I'm happy being a commando. But damn that jacket looks fancy...

 

[Elementary - Dear Watson]

You get to dress like that?

Dammit, I wish I had the perfect vision needed to be in the RAF...

Nah, I'm happy being a commando. But damn that jacket looks fancy...

That I do! I've been many places in my mess kit, including in the clubs and pubs of Warsaw...

Well, you only need perfect vision to be a Pilot in the RAF... it is still worth a try! Although I have a tonne of respect for the Marines! They really do have the hardest training of everyone in the UK forces (bar the obvious exceptions)!

Oh, and if you are interested:

Spoiler: Marine Officers Mess Dress

 

[The Funslinger]

You get to dress like that?

Dammit, I wish I had the perfect vision needed to be in the RAF...

Nah, I'm happy being a commando. But damn that jacket looks fancy...

That I do! I've been many places in my mess kit, including in the clubs and pubs of Warsaw...

Well, you only need perfect vision to be a Pilot in the RAF... it is still worth a try! Although I have a tonne of respect for the Marines! They really do have the hardest training of everyone in the UK forces (bar the obvious exceptions)!

Oh, and if you are interested:

Spoiler: Marine Officers Mess Dress

That sucks! I'll look like a fucking waiter! D:

Ah well, I get the Green Beret. And I'm going to have the emblem tattooed on my arm. Not sure if I'll have the globe with the lion on top, or the band saying "Royal Marine Commandos" with a sykes knife through it...

 

[someonehairy-ish]

I look a bit like a weedier Corey Taylor or Devin Townsend now that he has no hair. I wear metal T-shirts, punkish belts and jeans. I don't look the part either, but at my college in England there isn't a big divide between the nerds and the normal kids and the popular kids anyway. Everyone mingles. So I manage to fit in with the metal crowd and the nerd crowd and the stoner crowd and the popular crowd pretty well.
That said, I think a 6'2" black guy might find it kinda hard to fit into the nerdier groups even in my college. Purely because black guys only ever get associated with basketball and rap and all that stuff... but after making one friend within a group you'd be ok.