origin of the geek

Origin of the geek

Once upon a time, the Geek was a freak, a dabbler in weird things. Someone to be looked at, observed like a specimen in a travelling show; so, the story goes, their speciality was to bite off the head of a live chicken to the morbid horror and delight of a revelling crowd. This is a ritual, we at geek, have preserved in honour of the Geeks that have gone before us, and usually we find Wednesdays a good day for worshipping our ancestors as we engage in freakish acts of questionable behaviour before our morning coffee and catch up.

As time went by, the Geek evolved and no longer could they be found 'performing' at a circus, whilst the crowds were aghast with dismay and disappointment for where would they go now for their fix of 'otherness', their fix of voyeurism?

The identity of the Geek has always been saturated in exclusion, stigma, and idiosyncrasy, as the contemporary stereotype has evolved from eating live animals to performative dressing up. It was at the first World Con in New York City, in 1939, that adorning unusual attire and acting was first witnessed, but it wasn't until the eighties, that this became known as Cosplay. As these geeky gatherings gained pace, Cosplay (which means individuals immerse themselves into becoming their idolised character) has become synonymous with geeky behaviour. A Geek is renown for unwavering attention to detail, and mirroring mannerisms and body language of their idol is regarded as quite ordinary to a Cosplayer.

Stepping into Cosplay has gathered momentum and is more conventional than you may realise. Couples engaging in weekend submergence of the world of Marvel or Disney - to name just two of the most popular cosplay franchises – can be found far and wide, embracing their inner geekiness as Cosplay enables them to experiment with representations, beliefs, values, and identities – it is more than skin deep. Perhaps you should try it!

At geek we celebrate difference in all its glorious forms; the identity of the Geek is readily linked to the rise of the computer, and the 'techy' type is now commonplace in popular culture. Whilst you may think that obsessing about numbers and data is a little peculiar, whilst you may also think talking with excessive enthusiasm and spending an insane amount of time on researching 'trains' is somewhat tedious or wetting your knickers with excitement over 'geocaching' raises eyebrows, then perhaps you haven't unleashed your inner geek.

Geeks are innovators, and often pioneering in the field they work in, they have the passion and appetite to devour cosmic proportions of knowledge about a specific field, and whilst we may not resemble the IT Crowd, wearing thick glasses, donning messy hair, and looking, well, a little physically unfit, we do geek out about data and probability. We focus on facts, not drivel, and our geekmanship is all about analysing the data. Is your property being liked enough? Is your property being viewed enough? The answer is in the numbers, not in mindless waffle about your John Lewis curtains!

Reading, before writing.

Edwards, G. “Representations of Geeks in Popular Culture.” Looking in the Popular Culture Mirror, Student Projects from University Studies 254, 5, June. 2018, lookinginthepopularculturemirror.wordpress.com/2018/06/05/representation-of-geeks-in-popular-culture/#:~:text=Geeks%20and%20nerds%20have%20a,culture%2C%20especially%20in%20older%20depictions.  (Edwards, G)

McCain, J et al. “A Psychological Exploration of Engagement in Geek Culture.” Nation Library of Medicine, 18, November. 2015, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4651513/ (McCain, J et al.)

Perlman, M. “The transformation of the word geek.” Columbia journalism Review, 14, Jan. 2019, www.cjr.org/language_corner/geek.php#:~:text=Keep%20in%20mind%20that%20%E2%80%9Cgeek,way%20to%20avoid%20unintended%20pain.  (Perlman, M)

Wortmann, F. “The Secret Life of Geeks: The Psychology of Fans and Franchises.” Psychology Today, 25, Oct, 2019, www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/triggered/201910/the-secret-life-geeks (Wortmann, F)

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