After an exhausting dive for pearls in the razor-sharpbroken-glass sea of politics, one must rise to the surface for air.Stay underwater too long and the lungs will burst.
It's with that in mind that we take a humorous departure fromthe expected political ranting.
Still, though -- controversial points can and should be made intrivial issues.
Consider this thesis: a girl cannot be a geek.
When a girl or woman exhibits interests that would label a boyor man "nerdy" or "dorky," the female instead appears "cute." Or,to take it an even step further and provoke further debate: femalegeekiness is often very attractive.
Now the knee-jerk, yet still seemingly legitimate, response tothose ideas is, "Yeah, Dave, of course you would find geeky girlssexy, you're a geek yourself!"
Were I insisting that only female geeks of the art film,political, graphic novel, literary, spiritual and counterculturalvariety -- those sharing my own antisocial obsessions -- applied,then that would be a valid criticism. However, it should be notedthat the geek-girl who has read the "Harry Potter" books a dozentimes or possesses a shelf full of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer"paperbacks is cute just as a girl with all seven books of GrantMorrison's "The Invisibles" or a carefully-highlighted copy of EricAlterman's "What Liberal Media?" is cute.
It's very simple. Consider a guy who owns several seasons of"Star Trek: The Next Generation" on DVD and has thousands ofillegally-downloaded, old-school Nintendo games on his computer.Quite a nerd, right? Yet reverse the gender and you've got a cute,eccentric young woman with undiminished stock on the datingmarket.
Of course the thesis is not absolute. There are guys who willobject, insisting that their women fit a certain ultra-feminine,plastic mold. Truly though, should one prefer a girlfriend obsessedwith make-up and fashion who will drag their poor beloved to thelatest "Save the Last Dance" torture session? Or is it better tohave a girlfriend who can compete in rounds of "Tony Hawk's ProSkater 3" while debating which Martin Scorsese film is thebest?
It's "The Last Temptation of Christ," by the way.
In discussing this issue with my friend Tim Birkel, whose lovelyfianc�e Alissa falls into this category of "geek-goddess,"he made perfect sense of the situation, as he's often known to do:"Most guys like at least one thing that is considered 'nerdy' or'uncool,' no matter how 'cool' they might be. And generally theytry to hide it because they think it will make them unattractive tothe fairer sex, hence their denunciation of such things as nerdy.But, once they find a girl that has similar interests in 'nerdy'things, they feel free to open up to those girls about being nerdyin one way or another, because they know they won't be judged byit. Hence, guys like girls with nerdy qualities because it allowsus to open up about the inner nerd that every guy has."
If only he and I could agree on the less trivial debates too --like which guy should have his finger on The Button for the nextfour years.
And it's with that thought in mind that we dip our big toe backin the sea and prepare to dive back into the abyss of the politicalwhirlpool next week.
Write to David at
swimminginbrokenglass@gmail.com
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