80s Nerds

June 9, 2008

Confessions of an 80s Nerd

I was always a strange kid, but I the first time I realized I was a nerd was when I first watched the movie Revenge of the Nerds (1984). I didn’t just root for the nerds in the movie, I identified with them as an outcast, reject with fringe talents. I wasn’t officially a “nerd” until the 1990’s (most of my teen years) where I was given the full Nerd christening: joined a writing club (full of other nerds), fell in love with computers, bullied, made fun of for my (lack of) style, looks and love of books.

80’s nerdom, for me, was nothing more than being unable to fit into the incrowd & hanging around with other nerds. 80’s nerd crowds would talk about the V: the series, computer games (if you were lucky enough the have access to a computer, not everyone had one), Dungeons & Dragons, and of course Star Wars & Star Trek. I remember being filled with hate when I was called a nerd or a geek in the 80’s. It wasn’t until the very end of my short stay in High School (in the 90’s) when lots and lots of “nerds & geeks” were getting super rich that I realized that being a nerd was a complement. The meek started to inherit the earth.

In the 80’s a nerd was the kid that got beat up and had his lunch money taken. I didn’t see any benefit to that. For me, the word has greatly evolved and I take it as a compliment said only as an insult by people who are either jealous or don’t understand what they are saying.

The pocket protector was popular 80s geek accessory. The stereotype of the typical 80s nerd is in the Revenge of the Nerds movies: button down shirts tucked in, with high-water quarteroy pants (or slackes) riding high over the belly button. Hygiene was optional. Taped glasses and suspenders were a plus. Realistically, I did know any one that wore all that stuff, but hygiene was usually lacking, shirts were usually tucked and pants were sometimes high-waters.