This really annoys me

I hate that to show that a character is a “nerd” the writer will put glasses on them

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IKR :joy: Tbh I’m a nerd with or without glasses.

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Idk, most people wear glasses these days, so…

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I think most authors like to do the old school geek.

It’s such a typical stereotype. Come oooon, you can show that in other ways…
Also, why would you categorize people at all?
Like, what makes you a nerd?
I feel like the definition is mostly on appearance. Because I mean, we are all nerds… we just like different things and show it in different ways.
Sorry for the weird rant my dudes.

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I know a million people that wear glasses, but I would consider very few of them nerds (I’m not calling them dumb either tho).

I wear glasses tho, and I’m a TOTAL nerd!

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I don’t really care how the author shows it, but I found this.

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Exactly! I wear glasses and ngl i think it’s quite offensive by saying “oh look, this character is a ‘nerd’ so he/she must wear glasses because that’s what makes you a ‘nerd’”

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Like, obviously there are people that would consider themselves a ‘nerd’ or a ‘geek’ and do wear glasses, but that’s all just coincidence. Most people wear glasses these days.

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Yea, I mean… my eyesight has nothing to do with anything other then my vision being blurry. :joy:

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Same, with or without glasses. Doesn’t bother me.

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I new story I am working I asked for an opinion if my character looked Asian. and I a got a few comments about removing the glasses.

I use glasses when I read and write. but not evryday. glasses is not a fashion trend for neards people need to see. also I know a lot of neards who do not have glasses

my cover for the story

Honestly it’s up to the author on how they observe certain things, and what they wanna put on their story, so I don’t really care about it.

Maybe authors just like them in glasses

I know! It just annoys me how most of the time authors displays nerd as cHaRaCtErS wItH gLaSsEs. I mean, nerds can be without glasses too! I had no glasses a couple of years ago, yet I was a nerd. No hate to the authors who do that, I mean I also do them myself since most people think people with glasses are nerds.

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i’ve never seen a “nerd” in a story without glasses…

hm

On the one hand, yeah, “nerd = glasses” is definitely playing on cliches and picking the low-hanging fruit. However, there isn’t no correlation between the two.

  1. As schooling got more intense in the 19th and 20th century, nearsightedness in older children began to rise. This is because reading a lot and being inside often can cause nearsightedness in children. And the kids who read more than they played outside tended to be the ‘nerds.’
    (In the 21st century, screens have the same effect. So a kid who acquired childhood nearsightedness from being inside too much might’ve just been playing video games or watching dumb cartoons. So this part of the stereotype is probably outdated.) (Also, ik that there are other vision problems than nearsightedness, like farsightedness and astigmatism, but I’m pretty sure nearsightedness accounts for a large percentage of cases of glasses.)

  2. The stereotype is probably also self-fulfilling. Anyone who ends up nearsighted, either through genetics or not playing outside enough, but thinks “ew, I don’t wanna wear glasses like some kind of UNCOOL NERD” has ways to avoid wearing glasses, like contacts or surgery, or just not wearing them if their vision isn’t so bad. Plus, contacts and surgery tend to be costly, especially in the short term, so the Cool Rich Kids™ can afford them, while the kids without money, not so much. The existence of the stereotype would also cause kids to stereotype themselves or each other, and if you’re always grouped with the ‘nerds,’ it’s probably not too long before you realise that nerds are better, and you become one. :wink:

  3. Related to the above, schools still use chalkboards or projector screens (as far as I know…), so the nearsighted kids will need their glasses to see. Assuming no kids particularly like their glasses, the nerdy kids are the ones more likely to say: “I’d better put my glasses on, so I can see the board.” While the Cool™ kids who are nearsighted might not be so convinced. “Lmao I don’t need my glasses, what am I gonna do, tAkE nOtEs? I’m just gonna text lmfao”

  4. This one might just be my own experience, as a certified nerd with Velma-like vision, but as a toddler, my vision was about 20/300, and I didn’t get glasses until I was 3. So, with her vision at 7% of normal, tiny Scarlet didn’t get her sensory information for free, her little brain had to do a lot of filling in the blanks. My brain was always extrapolating from incomplete data, maybe ten times more so than my peers. My nearsightedness might’ve made me a smarter toddler, since I had to actively think in order not to trip over everything. By the time I got my glasses, my little brain was already programmed. :woman_shrugging: I don’t really have anything to back this point up, it’s just a thought.

As the use of screens rises and outdoors activities decline (cough)hover-parents(cough), the instances of nearsightedness are going to rise, beyond the 60%-ish that they’re at now lol, until just about everyone has glasses. So the stereotype will fade in time. Maybe the stereotype will even reverse; the kids with glasses will be the city kids who have all the best video games, while the kids without are the ‘broke hick kids’ who spend all their days playing outside with rocks like some kind of LOSERRRRRS. (/sarcasm) But for now, the stereotype is kinda dumb, but not baseless. :stuck_out_tongue:

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I have glasses :triumph: (But I’m a nerd, so…)

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