Awkward, in a good way

by Alison Hillhouse, MTV Insights

Awkward. Quirky. Weird. These probably aren’t the first words that come to your mind when envisioning the most popular girls in high school. But we’ve been hearing more and more in our research with Millennial girls that being quirky is actually something to brag about. High-schoolers we met with over coffee in New Jersey defined their friend group as “quirky” and “weird,” and described the funniest, most popular girl in their class as “awkwardly funny” (they were also quick to point out that girls were definitively funnier than boys)

For a generation that prides itself on being unique and creative, it’s only natural these traits come paired with a dose of quirkiness and awkwardness. Being totally unique often means you’ve got to be a little random and offbeat – case in point, hot young actress Chloe Moretz waxes poetic to Seventeen (http://ow.ly/bTJ1k) about her love of geeky Xbox game Call of Duty and explains, “I’m fun-loving, a complete nerd. I’m ridiculously random. I was on video chat with my best friend and I just broke out in a song about ramen noodles… I started doing all these weird bass noises… you could definitely say I’m weird.”

Similarly, on Hello Giggles (http://ow.ly/bTqkN), two bubbly high schoolers claim to relate to Taylor Swift’s “nerd” character much better than her “cheerleader” character featured in her video “You Belong With Me.” Senior Nicole provides the rationale, “We’re quirky and weird, and we don’t really take ourselves too seriously. We’re always fooling around and laughing!”

So it’s no surprise that Millennials are anxiously awaiting the return of Jenna Hamilton in MTV’s “Awkward” tonight (check out #Awkward on Twitter). In a study MTV recently did analyzing the defining traits of popular female characters and celebrities, Jenna’s top three were: “smart,” “funny” and “attractive” … not bad for a character that’s also nerdy, awkward and quirky. Her Tweet-able, witty quips have a distinct Millennial sensibility to them – for example, when describing a guy she likes, she states, “He was a remedial speller, and that was proof enough for me to exonerate him.”

Yet there’s certainly shades of being “awkward,” and probably only a Millennial can understand the full nuance of when someone is “awkward in a good way” versus “sooooo awkward” (eyes rolling.) Being able to come up with the perfect #ThatAwkwardMomentWhen based on something funny in your life is desirable; being the girl known for writing something totally awkward on a crush’s Facebook wall is not. As one high school senior in our New Jersey Starbucks meet-up was quick to point out about her group of friends: “We’re weird, but not ‘weird weird.’ We’re ‘funny weird.’” And only a high school girl can truly understand when this delicate line has been crossed!