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<blockquote data-quote="Dire Bare" data-source="post: 6871495" data-attributes="member: 18182">Good grief. There is no such thing as &quot;real&quot; versus &quot;fake&quot; nerds/geeks/gamers/etc. Nerdy stuff certainly has gained a wider appeal since my middle school days, and more folks have joined the hobby, but &quot;real nerds&quot;? Absolute BS.And the idea that back in the day we were all homely, misunderstood geniuses who were good at math and now our hobby is awash with good-looking, but vapid, hipsters is ludicrous at best.Back in the 80s, I gamed with some socially awkward, homely, misunderstood geniuses who were good at math. Today, as a middle-school teacher, I have students who are D&amp;D fans who are socially awkward, homely, misunderstood geniuses who are good at math. Back in the 80s I gamed with some complete morons who had trouble with simple addition &amp; subtraction, and some of my gamer-students also struggle with basic math. The demographics I have observed over my life, anecdotal as it is, haven't really changed much.I do have some students today who are socially awkward, bright, good in school, and who feel marginalized by the larger population of kids. One of the appeals of D&amp;D (Pathfinder in my school, actually) is to escape that marginalization and find a place they feel they belong . . . same as it was for me when I was a middle-school nerd. But when those bright kids start acting like they are superior to the other kids, start mocking and harassing those who &quot;don't belong&quot; in their &quot;nerd club&quot;, I call them out on their harassing and discriminatory behavior . . . just like I DIDN'T, but should have, when I was a kid.I automatically dismiss opinions laced with terms like &quot;SJW&quot;, but I also automatically dismiss opinions laced with terms like &quot;real nerds&quot; or the mythical &quot;fake geek girl&quot;. Sometimes I felt that way when I was in middle school, but then I grew up.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Dire Bare, post: 6871495, member: 18182"] Good grief. There is no such thing as "real" versus "fake" nerds/geeks/gamers/etc. Nerdy stuff certainly has gained a wider appeal since my middle school days, and more folks have joined the hobby, but "real nerds"? Absolute BS. And the idea that back in the day we were all homely, misunderstood geniuses who were good at math and now our hobby is awash with good-looking, but vapid, hipsters is ludicrous at best. Back in the 80s, I gamed with some socially awkward, homely, misunderstood geniuses who were good at math. Today, as a middle-school teacher, I have students who are D&D fans who are socially awkward, homely, misunderstood geniuses who are good at math. Back in the 80s I gamed with some complete morons who had trouble with simple addition & subtraction, and some of my gamer-students also struggle with basic math. The demographics I have observed over my life, anecdotal as it is, haven't really changed much. I do have some students today who are socially awkward, bright, good in school, and who feel marginalized by the larger population of kids. One of the appeals of D&D (Pathfinder in my school, actually) is to escape that marginalization and find a place they feel they belong . . . same as it was for me when I was a middle-school nerd. But when those bright kids start acting like they are superior to the other kids, start mocking and harassing those who "don't belong" in their "nerd club", I call them out on their harassing and discriminatory behavior . . . just like I DIDN'T, but should have, when I was a kid. I automatically dismiss opinions laced with terms like "SJW", but I also automatically dismiss opinions laced with terms like "real nerds" or the mythical "fake geek girl". Sometimes I felt that way when I was in middle school, but then I grew up. [/QUOTE]

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