// “Eew, too nerdy” //

I try to avoid ranting as much as possible but I felt the need to share this particular feel, because the mentality below is quite common and finally pushed me far enough to the edge to say something about this.

I have a group of friends I am fairly close with but we don’t share too many similar interests—they consider me a “nerd” due to my choice of hobbies, and I’m pretty tired of explaining why I cosplay, would rather stay home to work on cosplay and play games than go out and club. I thought they finally understood that I actually ENJOY it and don’t just hermit because I’m “avoiding them” (exact words, btw). It took them a year to finally realize that; that I enjoy these things and I’ve met so many cool people and been given some unique opportunities through cosplaying and sharing my interests online.

But my recent trip to SDCC made me realize that they might not be 100% accepting of this “nerd culture” I’m involved in. I had excitedly ran into an excellent Eleventh Doctor cosplayer and we talked very briefly and posed for some pictures together before I got the hint that my friends didn’t want to hang around anymore so I had to cut our conversation short.

They remarked afterwards that he was “ewww, too nerdy”. What does that even mean? He was in cosplay and in character. So was I. I thought it was awesome that he was in character. And we were at SDCC. COMIC-CON. COMIC. CONVENTION. I found that comment to be very ignorant and offensive—it just sounded like high school all over again. No wonder a lot of “nerds” harbor some kind of resentment towards people who refuse to understand the “culture” and believe the stereotypes. How could they have been so quick to judge someone they didn’t even know, especially at such a friendly environment full of people with the same interests?! For me, I have fun at conventions because it’s so easy to strike up a conversation with someone due to the fact we already have something we can talk about… I am not given the opportunity everyday to “nerd out” with someone (although it’s easier now because twitter!), and I found it disappointing that my friends thought this cosplayer was “ewww, too nerdy”. “Too nerdy” should have been replaced with “too passionate”. It takes guts to cosplay in public. You’re putting yourself out there in an environment that is supposed to be accepting of you being a complete “nerd”, and interacting with other people that are just as enthusiastic as the things you are.

I know this isn’t the first time I’ve heard this type of comment regarding “nerd culture” but this is the first time it actually affected me, personally, because I realized that this is how some of my friends truly feel about my interests and my other groups of friends that I have met through either cosplay or games. I don’t care if they never understand my hobbies or why I like them, but I don’t make negative comments about their interests, or things I don’t understand. I’ve only asked that they do the same.

/rant