14 ms·

> I think people in the west are still surprised that nerds might weightlift or jocks might be really smart. I'd say that this is even more specifically a US t

• sleepymoose 5y ago
  Even further, in my experience this view varies quite wildly depending on where you're at in the states, both geographically and economically. I grew up in a very small, rural public school. Since it was such a small school (my graduating class was < 50) many people did it all. AP classes, played multiple sports, played in the band or sang choir, etc. There was almost no siloing into the expected social "roles" that are common place in media such as jocks or geeks. Everyone just did their own thing. On the other hand, my partner attended a school 15 minutes away that was more than 5x the size and had a much different culture, much so more inline with stereotyping to fit the "norms".
  • ryandrake 5y ago
    Yea, same here. I didn't see any of the TV tropes in my high school. The sports jocks also tended to be in the top of the class academically. The most talented artist in our class was also the league and division champ cross country runner. Our valedictorian and the rest of the top-10 were active in the band, in sports, on the student council, in yearbook, everything. The divisions were not between nerds and jocks and preps and band-os and artists: It was basically people who did things and people who didn't do things.