Categorizing a fellow student as a “nerd” in middle or upper grades is applying a stereotype to a human being with feelings. It's used to imply someone who likes to study and is socially unadept. The word did not come into heavy usage until the 1960s and continued strongly through the 1980s. With the rise of technology, "nerd" and "geek" became more cool and popular—especially when they became multi-millionaires at twenty years old!
In seventh through twelfth grades “Goody Two-Shoes” and “Wall Flower” were added. I devoutly went to church, was studious, and never had a boyfriend. And I was sure I was not attractive for a variety of reasons. Besides, if I hadn’t been a Goody Two-Shoes, my grandmother would have seen that I never left the house. Years later, this was confirmed. At my twentieth-year high school reunion, one of the guys I had a tremendous crush on in high school told me not being asked out had nothing to do with me. It was facing my grandmother. She was a small but formidable woman.
Goody Two-Shoes has an interesting origin as a stereotype. It comes from a children’s book The History of Little Goody Two Shoes published anonymously in 1765. It was written either by either John Newbery or Oliver Goldsmith. The fact that I knew who Oliver Goldsmith was when I was in junior and senior high probably solidified my nerdiness. I was reading The Vicor of Wakefield and perhaps saw the play She Stoops to Conquer on PBS. Nerdy was further confirmed because I watched PBS whenever I could get it and liked classical music. Uncool!
And, of course, the cheerleader stereotype implied they were popular with the guys and were probably a C student. Many have a 4.0 grade point and, with much more athleticism being introduced into cheering, are quasi-gymnasts. They are also not always the prettiest girls in the class, either. From the middle-grades into your teen years beauty concepts change. They continue to change as you get into your twenties and thirties. Some girls grow into their beauty.
Stereotypes are just that. Be who you are—your unique self.
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