Nerd girl
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The nerd girl is a stock character of late-20th and 21st-century fiction. She is not simply a female nerd but has distinctive characteristics of her own.
Contents
Similarities to male nerds
The nerd girl has the following similarities to the stock character of the male nerd:
- often wears eyeglasses, which typically have large lenses and thick frames - in comics, particularly, this is an easy shorthand way of indicating that a character is a Nerd Girl.
- dresses unfashionably, not as a statement but because she doesn't care about fashion. Typically her clothes will be loose and comfortable (but see Subtypes below); they may be somewhat "young" for her.
- wears her hair in unfashionable styles (such as a ponytail or pigtails; while male nerds have messy hair or flattops, sometimes with hair gel)
- is obviously intelligent
- has expertise or knowledge in a specialised area, and/or a wide general knowledge
- is fascinated by some area of knowledge, usually technology-related
- is not popular
- is not considered conventionally attractive
- is shy and may be somewhat socially inept in groups
- uninterested in and unskilled at sports (distinguishing her from the tomboy)
- may be slightly overweight (usually not much) or notably thin
Additional Distinctive Characteristics
In part because of her female status, in part because of her later appearance as a stock character, the nerd girl may have the following characteristics which are not normally part of the male nerd's stereotype:- kind and good-hearted
- passionate about causes such as politics, social justice or the environment (in actual fact, many real-life male nerds share these concerns, but this reality has developed since the origin of the male nerd stereotype and is not often included in it)
- may be feminist or postfeminist
- good one-on-one interpersonal skills
- aware of her own emotional states
- often small in stature
Likely Events
A nerd girl is likely to have one or more of the following events occur to her:- Rejected by more "popular" peers
- Attracted to someone who can't see past her nerdishness at first
- Has "makeover" which renders her conventionally attractive
- Comes up with the piece of knowledge which enables the plot to be resolved
- Rants at clueless male character(s)
- Makes the male characters talk and listen to each other/her
Subtypes
The following are some subtypes of the nerd girl (for examples, see below):- the Whiz Kid or know-it-all - a young nerd girl who may associate with people older than herself because she is academically advanced (or unusually mature) for her age. Often has freckles.
- the Librarian or School Marm - not necessarily a literal librarian/schoolteacher, but has the large glasses, dresses in a conservative, somewhat uptight way and wears her hair up. This conventionally conceals the fact that she is beautiful.
Examples
The following table gives examples of the nerd girl from popular culture:
| Example | Characteristics |
|---|---|
| Deb in Napoleon Dynamite | Loose clothing, shy, wears hair in an unusual style, photographer, able to talk about her feelings. |
| Silicon Valerie in Danger Girl | Whiz Kid type, with freckles; technical expert; thin. |
| Sora Hasegawa in Oh My Goddess! | Glasses, shy, unskilled at sports, technical interests, small stature, appears young. |
| Diana Prince in Wonder Woman | Librarian type - uses same disguise as Superman, glasses and a different hairstyle and "nerdish" persona. |
| Lisa Simpson, The Simpsons | Intelligent, mature for age, strongly principled and idealistic, unpopular. |
| Hermione Granger in Harry Potter | Intelligent, idealistic, bookish, unusual hairstyle, not conventionally attractive, thin and small. |
| Gracie Hart (the Sandra Bullock character) in Miss Congeniality | An example (like Romancing the Stone) of the absurd convention of pretending that a very attractive actress is unattractive in "Nerd Girl" mode, until given a "makeover". |
| Toula Portokalos (the Nia Vardalos character) in My Big Fat Greek Wedding | Glasses, overweight until the "makeover", intelligent, describes herself as "frump girl". |
| Willow Rosenberg in Buffy the Vampire Slayer | Intelligent, bookish, shy, unusual fashion sense, unconventionally attractive, thin and small, and awkward. |
| Lisa Crocket in the Backyard Sports video game series | Very intelligent, bookish, has triangular glasses, not attractive, does not like conversations, very slow, and always says words like "what?", "are you still here?" and "whatever". |
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