nerd pride

i've been tossing ideas in my head for the past few days for new t-shirt ideas. i've just gotten into making my own t-shirts. the first one says "curls just wanna have fun" and has a gorgeous image of curls.

anyway, so this one is going to say "NERD PRIDE", and will be made from material sewn on to a t-shirt. the thinking behind it all is that i've identified as a nerd for a really long time - first in high school when i gave up being a rebel in year 8. i discovered this bunch of people who had fun without graffi-ing, smoking and who actually did their homework. apparently i delightedly identified us all as nerds, although noone else delighted in the label (thanks allie for bringing that repressed memory back up!).

then for several years i lapsed, or rather was a nerd but without self-identifying as such. but now that i'm doing my thesis, i'm reclaiming the label. i had forgotten about my earlier identification with it, but now that the connection has been made, it's feeling like a reclamation of my own past.

but there's an added layer of amusement for me. one of the central parts of my thesis is the idea that declaring something positive about a group in fact simultaneously declares its negation. so, when one says "nerd pride", this intrinsically suggests that nerds are not something to be proud of. in my data for my thesis, there's a line from a disability charity poster that says "because this is our community." the very act of declaring this evokes the idea that this might not be "their" community. typically, these posters assume a pre-existing rejection and are sincerely trying to oppose that rejection. but, i'm arguing, it's not that simple. anyway, before i go too far into my thesis in this post, i am amused that this t-shirt references my thesis and in so doing proves my nerd pride :>