I never quite knew why my sons do not like to be called nerds or to be associated in the least with the group of people called nerds.I now think I have got to the bottom of the mystery why my very intelligent sons underachieved in school! There seems to be a conspiracy among boys to not do too well and to not study too hard. Somehow or other, girls do not have the same problem and my daughters can get away with good results without risking being classed into the nerd category.What has triggered this post is Doctor in the House blog entry
When Ood commented that our sons are getting harder to raise because they seem to fall either into the nice but sotong types ( read effeminate?? nerds??) or super macho lepakkers ..note that I am paraphrasing here and those are not her exact words , I commented that it sounds pretty gloomy.
My son Aiman/Elman gets seriously alarmed with the term nerd though and indeed I would not apply it to him even though he is intelligent enough to become a nerd. I suspect the boys have an idea that a nerd is socially inept and perhaps even emotionally unintelligent . Does it really have to follow that a person who is smart is also not intelligent emotionally? Or is it because of the reputation smart children have that make them that way?
This now brings us to the more serious subject of why is it that our boys do not like to be called brainy, studious, hardworking or nerd? !It is my feeling that it is also a reason that boys lag far behind girls academically in school and some classes in some faculties in the IPT have an enrollment of 1 boy to every 4 girls or even worse!
Now how bad could a nerd be , let us have a look:
Here is the Wikipedia entry on Nerds with all the relevent interlinks:
Nerd, as a stereotypical or archetypal designation, refers to people of above-average intelligence whose interests (often in science and mathematics) are not shared by mainstream society.
I leave you to explore the definition as well as the change in meaning the word has undergone.
Interestingly girls who are called nerds view it as an accomplishment !
I only pray we will be able to develope a culture of intelligent, hard working boys who are strong enough to rise above the status quo not to be afraid of labels which do not mean anything and can sabotage their future. It is just possible that the nerds of the present are the Insanul Kamil of the future.
Geek Postscript:
It seems that the work Geek is now complimentary. Let us hope that nerd goes the same way soon!:
from wikipedia
Geek has always had negative connotations within society at large, where being described as a geek tends to be an insult. The term has recently become less condescending, or even a badge of honor, within particular fields and subcultures; this is particularly evident in the technical disciplines, where the term is now more of a compliment denoting extraordinary skill.
17 comments:
What about GEEK ? Do yo think they wouldn't mind being called a GEEK as opposed to a NERD? Take techno-geek, computer-geek for example. They don't sound too bad or too 'cekai'. If my understanding is correct, a nerd may be a geek, but a geek is not necessarily a nerd.
Honestly speaking, I have never eyed geeks and nerds in the negative light. So what if you're a bookworm and studious? However we need to help them out of their 'cocoon' and socialize more and play more. I don't mind having geeks in the family as long as they are 'anak yang soleh'
lepak maybe means something like "slacker"? ie. someone who doesn't really want to work hard at anything and just gets by... but it doesn't necessarily imply macho.
For more thoughts on nerd and geek, check out the Hacker's Dictionary at http://www.outpost9.com/reference/jargon/jargon_toc.html
Interesting topic of discussion. Here in UK, the teenagers have a lots of social problem with vandalism..One of the nite, police came to my hse to tell me that my car and several others were vandalised by a group of teenagers..unfortunately nothing much cud be done as these kids are underage and they are well protected by law. So they cud not be taken to jail..
p/s i sent you email and looking forward to know more abt doctor healing/Reiki etc. after visiting yr website. Hope you cud reply my email. Thanks
QTOH
Son says it is acceptable to be a geek and admist to being slightly geeky over computers.
DITH .Same as you, I never thought nerds were negative. In fact polite studious young men earn my respect
Tiel , slacker may describe a lepakker but is is more than that, they have to be cool and hip, up to date with the trend ..sigh ..
Anggerik..Yes of course I will reply soon as I can get to it..have some work to do,for my training in Perlis on Saturday .
About the vandalism: Sad is it not? Most of the lepak boys are pretty harmless, in fact I think it is just a front ..but as the saying goes, Idleness is the devil's workshop.
Dewa
Heal tu kan erti nya sembuh. Maknanya menolong orang dapatkan penyembuhan dari segi emosi mental dan fisikal
i think it will all escalate into bigger social problems. Girls with academic qualifications cant find a man that is sekufu with her. So she'll be some pegawai tinggi when the husband is some pegawai rendah. Ego involved and you'll have wife-bashing husbands. The only way to win, in an argument with these so-pandai wives is by silencing them with a punch/kick etc. Ego clashes are awful!
There are many many many exceptions of course. And i plan to learn from them mothers.
My son is barely one year old. His hair too curly, hie eyelashes too long ~ I worry.
He cant be still, he bounces around and lasak nenekmoyang ~ i worry also.
But then i am a mom, i am entitled to be a worry warrior! ;o)
Ood
Man had long lashes and curly hair too. As a baby he was adorable.He still is tho..neither nerd nor lepakker.
I worry about the number of marriagable young men who remain bujang...seems to be quite a number..some are a bit sotong but some are not , when I ask why they say , not ready for the responsibility...what gives?
Ood, why worry about the eyelashes? My youngest boy has the longest most lentik eyelashes. Makciks and amoys at the shops stop to take a second look at them. He is very fair too. Pakai jeans & tshirt pun orang tanya lagi ni girl or boy. Now should I also worry?? But he did tell me he does not want to be a Mat Jambu !!!!!
Nurelhuda : Yes, I thought so too ... geek is acceptable. I think geeks have some social life while nerds are social outcasts. Sad.
Hi lah Dewa: Sakit gigi mai auntie Nurel bagi petua. Bancuh kopi segera pekat pekat dan kumur ..jangan telan, kumur saja..sebelum tu selawat 3 kali dan minta kepada Allah untuk sembuhkan
somehow or rather I sorta figured this post would come up sometime :P
geeky is the trend nowadays. though they usually put it in terms that are more accepted by the public like tech savvy etc.
which is why you see cool people now sporting iPods and 3G phones among other tech savvy gadgets.
from what i've observed here and there, usually someone is only labelled as 'nerd' if the appearance says so. you know, glasses thick as bricks with the nerdy-looking frames or they have this kind of 'nerdy look' (sorry i can't exactly describe it.) plus some peculiar traits eg way of speaking, walking etc. a person may not even be a nerd in the true sense of the word, but it's the appearance that implies he/she is one.
i think the terms brainy, studious, hardworking are more favourably looked upon than nerd...
Honestly, I dont mind the nerds and geeks in my family. Problem is there are too many cool dudes around - so cool, they dont even want to do any housework, cuci pinggan, buang sampah, tolong basuh kereta, susah bangun pagi....you know the list kan Nurelhuda??
With no maid in the house, can you imagine Bea shouting? And she shouts at me for not shouting at the cool dudes !!!
Pycno
Indeed I do.These cool dudes have be thrown out of the house and made to camp outside :-) until they realise they were not born into a royal family with maids and butlers waiting on them!
Bea shouting at you Pycno? Naik suara sikit je tu...hehhe
And I remember drroza, that you're quite good at "menaikkan suara" too, though I find it hard to believe (seeing you in person, the other day) :)
I must sit down with ikelah to share notes of both our "Beas"....
Lepak I believe in English could be loiter.I usually read this in the news paper when this issues used to lingering around the mass media.It synonyms with wait,hang around, linger,dally, lurk et cetera.
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