Portlandia Issues Heartfelt Plea to Make ‘Nerd’ a Dirty Word Again

Nitasha Tiku — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 16:45:58 -0400

By and large, Ladybeat likes to stay out of the nerd-shaming business. Unlike slut-shaming, its equally insidious cousin, nerd-shaming in the Ascendancy of Zuck has come to be defined as calling out people--most often comely people with human lady parts--for not being nearly nerdy enough. (See: meme, Fake Geek Girl.)

And while that rankles, it's equally as hard to cede the "nerd" label to well-adjusted types with nary an esoteric obsession. You cool jerks would never have sat at our lunch table, etc.

Enter "Portlandia" with a PSA/compromise: How about making nerd a bad word again? "A real nerd is ashamed to be called a nerd," points out "actual nerd" Brian P.

We just hope Mr. P's emphasis here is on second week and not sexy: "A sexy girl who went and saw second week screening of 'The Avengers' is not a nerd."

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Portlandia Issues Heartfelt Plea to Make ‘Nerd’ a Dirty Word Again