Even though this analysis tries to explain why geekdom is so connected to whiteness and maleness, it seems to miss the most obvious reason: it provides a “simulated ethnicity” for people who don’t already have one. White men in America are rarely treated as white or men; they’re just default race and default gender. A black guy is a black guy but a white guy is just a guy. A random stranger is a guy until proven otherwise. It’s noteworthy to see an Indian American rapper because that crosses a boundary between cultures, but it’s not noteworthy to see a white guy into Japanese taiko drumming because white guys are just normal so of course they’d have eclectic interests. Anyway, people who dive headlong into geek cultures often say “I’ve finally found my tribe”; that’s only a sensible thing to say if you haven’t already spent your whole life being told which tribe you belong to and where its boundaries are.

*Note that “jock” is not synonymous with “athlete” – athletes are in fact geeks of sports.

Oh hell naw

I can’t tell whether this is meant to be sneered at, or to be sneered along with.