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I submit that the author is not finely attuned to teen boys' fashion in his area, and so presumes the nerds are dressed just as "well" as the popular guys. The

by wjy 17y ago

I submit that the author is not finely attuned to teen boys' fashion in his area, and so presumes the nerds are dressed just as "well" as the popular guys. The difference can be made by the smallest things: shoe brand, specific hair style, etc. I know by my age, I'm blind to such differences in that age group. Also, I object to framing the "popular" situation to be so simple. I was definitely a nerd in school but, like the guys in the post, had a group of friends and my own activities. The popular kids were definitely a different group, but they weren't better than us. It's not a linear ordering of groups.

pgbovine 17y ago
I was definitely a nerd in school but, like the guys in the post, had a group of friends and my own activities. The popular kids were definitely a different group, but they weren't better than us. It's not a linear ordering of groups. totally agree, i had the same experience in high school. i hope i didn't imply in my article that there is a linear ordering of groups (i haven't read it over in a long time). in my high school, the nerds were often comfortable in their own skin (and had deep interests that could engage them), but the majority of kids in high school aren't nerds and aren't popular either ... they're somewhere in between. those are the kids who strive to become popular and have all sorts of angst because many fail to achieve that goal.
- hachiya 17y ago
  The kids "somewhere in between" "strive to become popular and have all sorts of angst"? That's a pretty big claim for ALL the kids who are neither nerds nor popular. I speculate that a great deal of those kids don't obsess about highschool drama, don't "strive to become popular", and don't end up with "all sorts of angst." Also, one could safely consider that perhaps the author of a lengthy article about middle school and high school popularity has some undealt-with angst issues... I'm just saying that I'd be careful about making sweeping generalizations, unless you want to come across as harboring that angst yourself.
benmathes 17y ago
I don't think social groups are linearly ordered, but they do have a partial ordering.

by wjy 17y ago

pgbovine 17y ago

I was definitely a nerd in school but, like the guys in the post, had a group of friends and my own activities. The popular kids were definitely a different group, but they weren't better than us. It's not a linear ordering of groups. totally agree, i had the same experience in high school. i hope i didn't imply in my article that there is a linear ordering of groups (i haven't read it over in a long time). in my high school, the nerds were often comfortable in their own skin (and had deep interests that could engage them), but the majority of kids in high school aren't nerds and aren't popular either ... they're somewhere in between. those are the kids who strive to become popular and have all sorts of angst because many fail to achieve that goal.

hachiya 17y ago
The kids "somewhere in between" "strive to become popular and have all sorts of angst"? That's a pretty big claim for ALL the kids who are neither nerds nor popular. I speculate that a great deal of those kids don't obsess about highschool drama, don't "strive to become popular", and don't end up with "all sorts of angst." Also, one could safely consider that perhaps the author of a lengthy article about middle school and high school popularity has some undealt-with angst issues... I'm just saying that I'd be careful about making sweeping generalizations, unless you want to come across as harboring that angst yourself.

benmathes 17y ago

I don't think social groups are linearly ordered, but they do have a partial ordering.