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When Nerds go Goth - make sure you've read about nerds first The Goth: What is a Goth? A Goth is someone who prefers to wear all black (sometimes with red or purple), dyes their hair, wears black makeup and prefers pale skin. They tend not to be talkative and when they are they make it clear that they are very opinionated. Goths are easy to ignore – they’re quiet, avoid society and stick to themselves; this is probably why they have avoided my scrutiny for so long. But it has recently been brought to my attention that Goths share many nerd attributes and, after a quick review of my limited encounters with them, I realized, with excitement, that they perfectly conform to my definition of a nerd. Proposition: Goths are nerds that can’t stand the idea of being nerds and have developed a hatred of the society that does not accept them. Where most nerds simply aim for a low profile and roll with the occasional social blows, Goths have turned to outright rebellion. So what causes a nerd to make the dark reckoning? The more I think about it, the more I’m seeing goths as ‘art’ nerds; they like to paint themselves, write dark poetry and participate in ‘interpretive rituals’. There also seems to be a greater percentage of females in the ranks of goths than with typical nerds, suggesting that perhaps Goths are nerds that cruelly possess heightened emotional weakness. Sensitivity Sensitivity seems key with Goths – their lives are filed with angst and torture at the hands of a society that shuns them – yet they are too righteous to conform and revel in self gratifying martyrdom. I also think that Goths lack the humility that most nerds possess; a typical nerd is somewhere between ‘humbly ashamed of’ or ‘blissfully ignorant of’ his social status whereas Goths tend to react with an affected air of social superiority (note: the ‘superior’ nerds I’m sure you’ve met are advertising their intellectual superiority – they’ve long given up on the social game). I wonder what happens to Goths when they grow up? Do they get over themselves? Probably, like all other nerds, they gain confidence and eventually become ‘nerdy adults’, who, for some reason, don’t excite the same contemptuous reaction from society that their younger counterparts do. I could seek to determine why this is (and it probably has something to do with age-defined social standing) but I rather enjoy leaving alone that mischievous devil that rises in my heart whenever I encounter a little nerd wriggling about uncomfortably in his own skin, veritably begging for some creative brand of noogie-inspired torture. |