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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Wayside" data-source="post: 2178066" data-attributes="member: 8394">I don't think that's true. I could start eating horribly, stop exercising, try to bulk up while switching to a more slovenly appearance and do even more geeky things, and I'd still be me. People might treat me differently then, the way they may treat you differently now, but I'd be me either way.'Acting like idiots' is a relative judgment. You might see some drunk people having a lovely time and think they're acting like idiots. Those same people might see you at the gaming table, again having a lovely time, and think you and your friends are the ones acting like idiots. Of course from your perspective you're right, but from theirs, so are they. I've been on both sides of this, and find both judgments equally ridiculous.Why is that though? I guess I don't buy it as a straightforward proposition because I certainly have never made a secret of the fact that I mess with RPG's on occasion, and yet nobody's ever looked at me funny because of it.With the possible exception of being a virgin, I don't think anything listed here is even considered aberrant at this point. Certainly nothing anyone would find odd (but then I suppose that might depend on how long ago your mid-twenties were). Actually, there was an interesting conversation on another (computer gaming) board recently, where the people who considered themselves 'computer geeks,' the rightful possessors of computer geekdom, had actually begun to notice the massive influx of 'normal,' even 'popular' people into gaming, and were beginning to feel displaced. They felt that the 'normal' people were taking over what had always been the province of 'geeks.' So, I really don't think our hobbies in themselves have much of a stigma, if any, these days, when there are NCAA football players running around in WoW and such.Identity is a very interesting thing to think about in the context of this thread. Culturally, we have a certain amount of rhetoric we bring to the discussion, phrases like "fitting in." This suggests a solidified social space we aren't allowed into if we are "being ourselves," another, in my opinion equally cheesey, rhetorical turn we often use. "Be yourself, "be an individual," "be unique." Amazingly cheesey. What is this core self, which you is the real you? I admit I can't even understand your thoughts here in more than a semantic way because I don't believe I have any such core. I, or I suppose I should say we, are a multiplicity of selves who enjoy moving into new spaces and contexts and who enjoy changing, always into someone else. People who think of themselves as having to 'try to fit in' or 'put on appearances' (or any other such culturally inscribed ridiculousness) seem very alien to me.</blockquote>

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