I came across this amusing article today about why women should be dating geeks. It brings up some pretty funny points, which I think are in part based on truth. I mean, computer geeks do know exactly what to do to fix up your various gadgets and they probably don't really care what other people see in them provided as they don't really care how they look and dress in comic book/gaming/slogan shirts that no one really understands (I think the Star Wars puns tees are cute though; "Yoda one for me"? Yes, date you I will). But I think a list like that doesn't really capture just exactly what it is about geeks that appeal to me, and to a lot of other girls for that matter.
Since 2003, when a little TV show called The OC came out, I've always said that I knew exactly who my soulmate is: Seth Cohen. He's this socially awkward thing who's been in love with the same girl since forever; he names his sailboat after her, never mind that he's never had an actual conversation with her. He likes Death Cab for Cutie and is obsessed with comic books, and he has a toy horse named Captain Oats that he talks to on a regular basis. His sense of humor is sarcastic and self-depracating--and I deeply respect anyone who can make fun of themselves--and he actually has a relationship with his parents. AND he stood up on a table and told Summer he loved her in one of the sweetest and cutest grand gestures I've ever seen on television. But it's not just these adorable quirks or even the big romantic gestures that do me in; it's the fact that he makes Summer feel like it's okay to geek out in some ways. He finds out that she also talks to her own Princess Sparkles (a My Little Pony toy that I begged my parents to get me as a kid), and realizes she has a million insecurities that makes her, in some ways, just like him. When Summer fell in love with Seth, she stopped trying so hard to make other people look up to her and like her--she finally had someone who saw who she really was and loved her for it.
I'm a geek, in a lot more ways than I would ever care to admit. I like staying home and watching movies, collecting as many as I can to get different perspectives on the world. I read books, not e-books, because I like paper. I grew up adoring Star Wars and have a deep appreciation for anything the force-related. I listen to K-pop, googling translations and subbed videos so I can find out what the hell these people are saying. I like algebra and solving for the value of X. I like reading about the Big Bang, and when I like something I spazz like crazy. I geek out and, just like Summer, I want someone who tells me it's okay to be weird about stuff and to want to talk about how the universe started out, or point out the elements in A Tale of Two Sisters that hint at the twist at the end, or why I think Koreans are the best lyricists even though I don't understand the language.
Geeks are getting their due these days, what with Michael Cera and Zooey Deschanel carving out a new "cute nerd" category on everyone's radar. But it's not supposed to be just about looking cute in glasses, and not at all about having someone who loves you because they know they can't do any better. It's about embracing who you really are, and not being apologetic about liking what you want. Geeks are passionate about whatever it is that interests them--whether it's Warcraft or mangas or Star Trek. They don't like something halfway; they completely immerse themselves in an interest or lifestyle. They may end up looking like idiots but don't you want to know how it feels to like something so much that you dedicate a huge chunk of your life to it? To feel that passionate about one thing?
If you can find someone who allows you to experience how to live that way, who encourages you to find something you love enough that you don't care that you're at a convention where everyone is dressed up as aliens, then you're lucky. You've found something you can geek about, and someone who will be right there dressed in costume with you.
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