Mercury reader Matthew writes:
Look, I know I’m the only one, but can we please quit using the words “geek” or “nerd” to describe people (Vol. 12 # 10- “Geek Week”). Not only is it insulting and alienating, but it’s also unfair. Why don’t you describe the gay pride celebration as “fag week” or Juneteenth as “darkie days”?
My response after the jump.
•••••
Hey Matthew,
“Geeks” are neither a race, nor a class that’s routinely a victim of institutional discrimination. Instead of worrying about being called a geek, you should be thinking about what kind of person would compare the plight of being a nerd to that of being dragged behind a car because of their sexuality, or suffering roughly 160 years of slavery.
Sincerely,
Wm. Steven Humphrey
Editor
Portland Mercury
Whatta dweeb!
I like Matt’s idea. Fag Week sounds awesome. However, he had the wrong target with Juneteenth. Instead, Kwanzaa should be renamed Negro Week.
No, wait, hold up. What if we got all of the black geeks together (gay or straight)for the ultimate spring break event: Geeknik!
You geek Mathew.
i cringe when anybody says “geek” around me and the last time a person called me a geek i reacted very poorly and poured a can of schlitz on their head. i am very sensitive about being a . its a very hateful designation. gnerd
The Geek word used to be a slur, but really in recent years it’s become a term of attainment, much like Wonk.
And, actually, “Queer Pride” is often used by queer folk (that includes me) as a way of reclaiming a pejorative term. So the idea of “fag week”, while qualitatively different, isn’t as far off the mark as I’m guessing Matthew thought.
But, much like the N-word is best left to black folk to determine socially acceptable usage, the F-word is for us queer folk to decide. You can’t have it. So does that mean the G word is just for Geeks only?
@6, yes. Which is why WM and the rest of us can use it so freely.
If you know you’re the only one, Matthew, why bother us with this crap?
The word geek is like the word rape both have been degraded and watered down over the years. It used to be one had to bite the neck off a chicken for the entertainment of others to be called a geek.
Can’t one merely bite the neck off chicken for the entertainment of one’s self? Why does geekness require the authentication of others?
“Why don’t you describe the gay pride celebration as “fag week” or Juneteenth as “darkie days”?”
Because only a dick would want to do that, and making fun of nerds is oh-so-fun! NERD!
Groups don’t get to own words so I’ll use them however I see fit.
Uhhh take that dateline for slavery and double it.
No, groups don’t get to “own” words in any kind of legal sense, but they do get to call you out for bigoted use of said words (if that’s what you’re doing) — however they see fit!
Fortunately for me, I’m not in the habit of going around making bigoted comments and have no desire to engage in that. But, unfortunately, we tend to be far too hung up on the words themselves instead of how people use words, any words, to victimize entire groups of people for simply being the way nature made them.
Furthermore, words change meaning over time and only truly have meaning if someone attaches meaning in a particular context. So, what may be offensive to a gay American might not be to a gay Brit and vice-versa.