Popular culture geeks, suffering, revenge and mathematics

• From The Big Bang Theory to Stranger Things, geek characters are increasingly central to contemporary popular culture. They may be primarily into technology or science but this is always grounded in extraordinary mathematical skills. As Tony Stark says in Iron Man “If my math is right, and it always is...”. In this article, we map one aspect of how the pop culture geek is represented: suffering-revenge narratives. We use the Mark Zuckerberg biopic The Social Network as an archetypal example and argue that while suffering and revenge have always been part of geek representations, they are increasingly taking on misogynistic forms. These narratives legitimate the gendered policing of online geek spaces and wider sexism. As a contrast, we look at working-class Latina female geek Betty Aurora Rincón in the television series Betty en NY showing how she responds to suffering with forgiveness and empathy rather than revenge.

Ämnesord

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Utbildningsvetenskap -- Pedagogik (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Educational Sciences -- Pedagogy (hsv//eng)

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Annan samhällsvetenskap -- Genusstudier (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Other Social Sciences -- Gender Studies (hsv//eng)

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Utbildningsvetenskap -- Didaktik (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Educational Sciences -- Didactics (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Geeks; The Social Network; Betty La Fea; technology

geeks; The Social Network; Betty La Fea; technology.

Publikations- och innehållstyp

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