4 ms·
Is "Revenge of the Nerds" (1984) a symptom of many women avoiding tech or is it one of the causes? The characters were nerdy, into tech, and generally despised
by coderdude 11y ago
Is "Revenge of the Nerds" (1984) a symptom of many women avoiding tech or is it one of the causes? The characters were nerdy, into tech, and generally despised by their peers (most notably women and athletes). The only girls who would associate with them were Omega Mu, who were a lot like the Tri-Lams. I don't think anyone would want to be a Tri-Lam or an Omega Mu in real life[1] (they are, after all, comically nerdy). I don't find it impossible that a generation of women thought "You know, I'd rather have an Alpha Beta, not a Tri-Lam. How do I avoid getting a Tri-Lam? Don't be an Omega Mu."
I don't think it's possible to know one way or the other. It's much more likely that RotN and things like it caused or were caused by deeply rooted stigmas against tech that made women shy away from it before even getting to the point of being exposed to 'frat-like' conditions in the workplace.
1: http://i.imgur.com/Pf35A0D.png http://i.imgur.com/Pf35A0D.png
- _greim_ 11y agoWRT the tie-in to the "nerd" phenomenon. Lots of things compete for kids' finite mental resources. It becomes a variation of do I invest in Social Status, or Subject Matter X? Those investments happen in a small way at first, but end up having an outsize impact on the rest of a kid's life. Such choices are strongly influenced by cultural expectations for gender. Those cultural expectations are, in turn, cartoonishly amplified in the typical lord-of-the-flies high school environment. Actually all of the above is just me—some random HN puke—speculating and repeating things I've heard elsewhere. But it definitely sounds plausible!
- coderdude 11y agoIt sounds reasonable to me.
- mason240 11y agoOne Paul Graham's more well known essays talks about how, in general, being cool and being a nerd both take a significant time investment, and to be good at one you have to forgo the other. http://paulgraham.com/nerds.html http://paulgraham.com/nerds.html
- nikdaheratik 11y agoI wouldn't read too much into that movie as an accurate portrayal of anything. The script is basically an early 80s college frat movie with all the bros in one frat replaced by stereotyped "nerds" to try and change up the formula a bit. For contrast try: "Real Genius" or "Weird Science" or even "My Science Project" all from around that time period.