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'My Corduroyed Life' - Mark A's Journal
This is an interesting idea…
In an age where a ginger mate of mine who accuses people of being ‘racist’ when they make mean ginger jokes actually makes an almost persuasive and intelligent argument, could people eventually get into trouble for being geekist? After all, like ginger people, geeks have a certain amount of stigma attached to them. Their appearance, ability with computers, and social skills are stereotyped. Stereotyping is an act of prejudice, so it can be argued that people who stereotype geeks are prejudiced/ geekist.
However, being a geek isn’t an Ethnic thing (eg: black skin), a beliefs thing (eg: Islamic religion), a state of being thing (eg: gay), or anything that would fit comfortably into minority group or group in which the law protects against prejudice. Being a geek is as much of a lifestyle choice as being a football fan, enjoying bakery, or being a clubber. Again, those recreational choices have their unfair stereotypes: hooligan, housewife, and drug-takers. None of those assessments are fair either: I know very gentle football fans, young and male cookery fans, and drug-free clubbers.
To some extent, I think that there is already a certain culture to geeks even if it isn’t universally recognized. Neither does it need to be. In a similar way to pie and Bovril being staple foods at a footy match, pizza and beer/ cola are staples for a roleplaying session: us geeks even have our own cuisine! Seriously though, geek culture encompasses a culture of online friendship and gentle recreational activities: us geeks are well harmless, and our culture is much more civilized than the didacticism and bigotry of, say, religious culture.
Hmmmm. Reading back, as has been the case with the majority of the challenges I’ve done so far, I’ve twisted the title into something that I want to write, not what the original title wanted. I was most guilty of this at school and Uni too. What I have done, however, is laid the basis for an argument that we have a culture simply by the things that we enjoy and share with one another – surely that’s what culture is. Personally, I don’t feel the need to be recognized as such though, so no, I don’t think there’s any need for it to be recognized as culture.
Have fun,
M x
Current mood:
contemplative.Current music: Star By Star by The Kovenant.
In a word: no…
Good grief! Hell, no!
Have fun,
M x
Current mood:
scared.Current music: In Your Eyes by Kylie.
And now for something a bit more happy than my most recent blogs...
I have a (somewhat justified) reputation as a plant killer. It's not that I dislike plants, far from it, I love plants. However, I am unfortunately cursed with fingers that are decidedly ungreen. I'd dearly love to have green fingers, but any plant that has the misfortune to come into my care can assume that it has a very low life expectancy indeed. I've killed Cyclamen. I've killed Bamboo. I've even killed a remarkably easy to look after Cactus. I am rubbish with plants.
So when I received an Amaryllis as a Christmas present from a friend at work as a thank you for my hard work over the year, I was mortified. I was grateful, but mortified. Amaryllis are fabulous plants, and I think they're stunningly beautiful. I should not be trusted with one! Or so I thought.
LOOK!!!!!!
Yay! I did that! I looked after her! I grew her from a bulb! And she's beautiful! She's my princess! Oh, I rock so hard! I heart my Amaryllis! She's called Edna.
Yay!
Have fun,
M x
Current mood:
happy.Current music: Show Me The Way To Amarillo by Peter Kaye & whoever it was.