I'm proud of being an Otaku, myself, I have no shame in it... I proudly display anime & gamer merchandise at my desk at work, go to several anime conventions and cosplay through the year, attend an Anime club in the area, and (I know, "gasp, omg"), even have a girlfriend who's into the same things)

I know in Japan, Otaku have been given a bad name, because of their overly nerdiness (to the point of obsession), and because of the actions in the past of one or two nutjobs, but remember, films like Densha Otoko also caused a recent acceptance & popularity of Otaku in Japan, and I say this from experience, having a friend who is staying in Japan this past year, as well as a friend who's a teacher in Korea who traveled to the Tokyo Game Show this past year, and was amazed at the lack of sneering at Otaku these days by most people;

To anyone not proud of being an Otaku, I can only say that there's simply no reason not to be, and as Shakespeare said, To thine own self be true! At the end of the day, it's only yourself you have to answer to and judge yourself by, noone else!