BEING A DORK ISN'T DORKY ANYMORE.

“Times they are a changing.” Bob Dylan’s lyric was never more right. One of the biggest social phenomenons this year is “Dork Pride.” It’s suddenly cool to be uncool. Social awkwardness is now an empowered American trend. In the words of Yogi Berra, “Oy Vey.”

Maybe it’s because young computer geeks are now enjoying the millionaire life. Whatever the reason, being a nerd, a geek, a dork – whatever you want to call the tragically unhip – is becoming a source of pride. It’d be enough to make “Duke” Wayne swallow his spurs and become a commie.

For generation’s skinny kids, with acne, who wore bow ties, braces on their teeth, pens in their shirt pockets, untied shoelaces were the source of scorn and ridicule. It was a given that if one of these doofus’ was given a football helmet for his birthday, he’d turn it into a planter…or keep his stamp collection in it. Dorky girls were usually dumpy, giggly and smelled like hard boiled eggs. Dorks were a great source of socially unacceptable jokes and embarrassment for their parents.

Kids considered to be dorks were stuffed in their school lockers, mice placed in their back packs, forced to eat worms (which in many cases tasted better than the real school food), and beaten up by visiting Quakers. Most geeks played musical instruments like the violin or flute. Never drums like most masculine kids like….Karen Carpenter. They usually had great grades – another reason to kick their asses – had hobbies like stamp collections, astronomy and etiquette. Any of those were cause for serious goofing.

But today being smart and sensitive, even socially awkward, is often considered cool. The signs are everywhere. “The O.C.,” a TV show popular with teens, has Seth, a comic-book loving nerd as a hero. Bands such as Weezer also feed off the dork image, complete with horn-rimmed glasses and ill-fitting clothes. (Of course, backstage they do drugs and bang every teenybopper who stops by. Guess some things are always cool.)

Increasingly kids are parading around in shirts that say, “Dork Pride!” Such items have gotten so popular that CafePress.com, an online merchandiser, has created a special category for shirts and other items celebrating geeks, dorks and nerds. You can see bumper stickers on lots of motorcycles that say, “Talk Nerdy To Me.” Some real geeks are feeling a little territorial about their status. Nick Ross, a 26-year old, free-lance artist and animator, who wrote The True Geek Test, a set of online questions aimed at weeding out the “posers.” He says people often want to play the part but, know little about the world of computers and gaming – something Ross says is a must to truly be a geek.

Let’s recap. It’s no longer cool to be the football hero or cheerleading blonde. Crew cuts are out and long, stringy hair is in. Acne and blackheads is a sign of pride….also, perhaps lack of hygiene. Among young people, liking something cool is uncool, and vice versa. There is no logic behind it. One definition of a real dork, geek or nerd is, “An eccentric or smart person with a passion for something that may not be popular at the moment, like maybe tap dancing, yodeling or physics.” Wow. I feel relieved; when I was growing up I was made fun of because of my passion for coat racks. I was a hip dork without knowing it.

Many dorks worry that this popularity will be short-lived, returning them to a life of ridicule which they so richly deserve.