Why is it such an adventure for her to go to a bar near a large university and dance to salsa music? Does she think of life as one long straight-to-DVD romcom (from 2003)?
If you call her a dork, you compliment her. She likes that label. 'Dork' implies innocent and authentic and NOT self-conscious -- oh, she is the opposite!
Ah, Funnybunny, you hit on a topic that had been nibbling at my consciousness--Julia's "wish" to be seen as a "dork." (Not unlike Meg's desire to be seen as a "geek.")
If JA is seen as dorky, she is seen as serious, tech-y, less Kissy-Face Candyland (TM); her dorkdom is aspirational.
She wants to identify with the dorky founder-boys she so avidly pursues; and with the slightly awkward "millions of teenage girls" whom she considers (according to that hilarious argument about Obama Girl with Rachel Sklar) the natural constituency for NonSociety. "Our girls," indeed. Paging Atoosa Rubenstein and her AlphaKitties, bunnies.
Yet, as you so astutely point out, JA's claim to unstudied dorkdom is wholly inauthentic. All, all is calculation with Our Lady of the Pink Lightbulbs. Even her pink lightbulbs.
This is exactly why she must point out her "dorky" connections such as Dan, the language/high school debate enthusiast that we've all been given details about, her brother and his research, her parents' affiliations (University Club crap) and love of lectures etc. etc.
She thinks she has that Ivy-league/plaid-clad-bookworm/ribbon-on-ponytail label, but it cannot come only through association...In fact, she's like the cheap version! She reads books from airports, watches dumb-ass movies and has not a creative/innovative/distinctive/dorky bone in her body.
She's just so caught up in the messages and codes she wants to convey and fails to see the ones she truly oozes.
Anyway, I'm sick of trying to be eloquent because eloquence is what she hides behind. It's not hard to look-up spelling and definitions and synonyms and wind them into comprehensive sentences. What is hard is to not try so hard.
She wants to be a dick-tease in black thigh highs, a dork on the cutting edge of technology, a potential HBS student and an SATC girlie-girl with pink farts...nonetheless, she won't admit to what she really is: lost.
Why is it such an adventure for her to go to a bar near a large university and dance to salsa music? Does she think of life as one long straight-to-DVD romcom (from 2003)?
ReplyDeleteIf you call her a dork, you compliment her. She likes that label. 'Dork' implies innocent and authentic and NOT self-conscious -- oh, she is the opposite!
Ah, Funnybunny, you hit on a topic that had been nibbling at my consciousness--Julia's "wish" to be seen as a "dork." (Not unlike Meg's desire to be seen as a "geek.")
ReplyDeleteIf JA is seen as dorky, she is seen as serious, tech-y, less Kissy-Face Candyland (TM); her dorkdom is aspirational.
She wants to identify with the dorky founder-boys she so avidly pursues; and with the slightly awkward "millions of teenage girls" whom she considers (according to that hilarious argument about Obama Girl with Rachel Sklar) the natural constituency for NonSociety. "Our girls," indeed. Paging Atoosa Rubenstein and her AlphaKitties, bunnies.
Yet, as you so astutely point out, JA's claim to unstudied dorkdom is wholly inauthentic. All, all is calculation with Our Lady of the Pink Lightbulbs. Even her pink lightbulbs.
Yes.
ReplyDeleteThis is exactly why she must point out her "dorky" connections such as Dan, the language/high school debate enthusiast that we've all been given details about, her brother and his research, her parents' affiliations (University Club crap) and love of lectures etc. etc.
She thinks she has that Ivy-league/plaid-clad-bookworm/ribbon-on-ponytail label, but it cannot come only through association...In fact, she's like the cheap version! She reads books from airports, watches dumb-ass movies and has not a creative/innovative/distinctive/dorky bone in her body.
She's just so caught up in the messages and codes she wants to convey and fails to see the ones she truly oozes.
Anyway, I'm sick of trying to be eloquent because eloquence is what she hides behind. It's not hard to look-up spelling and definitions and synonyms and wind them into comprehensive sentences. What is hard is to not try so hard.
She wants to be a dick-tease in black thigh highs, a dork on the cutting edge of technology, a potential HBS student and an SATC girlie-girl with pink farts...nonetheless, she won't admit to what she really is: lost.