At first glance, the phrase “smart is the new sexy” appears to be completely harmless, if not empowering, especially for women who have been pressured since a young age to hide their smarts for fear of social ostracization. But behind this pseudo-feminist, misguided girl-power mantra is a societal problem that cannot be addressed by a few pictures of attractive women in red lipstick wearing glasses and holding science textbooks.
Underneath its inoffensive exterior, “Smart is the new sexy” implies a few key assumptions that personally make my blood boil.
- Until now, it has been unattractive for women to be intelligent.
- A woman cannot be both smart and sexy.
- And most importantly, that intelligent women are only intelligent to please men, or to be looked at as sexual objects of desire.
A quick Google search of "smart is the new sexy" is incredibly telling. The search pulls up pictures of young women, often showing a lot of cleavage and wearing thick glasses, in some sort of fake scholastic environment. Wouldn't you hope that a search regarding women's brains would focus on just that, rather that continuing to objectify them?
Let’s make one thing clear: growing up as a “smart girl” is tough. The world tells you that guys don’t like smart girls, so you stifle yourself, and dim your light so that others can shine. You grow up dumbing yourself down, and trying to appear less bright or even ditzy just to fit in. Although, thankfully, there has been progress made in recent years, it is exceedingly difficult for intelligent driven women to make strides and assume leadership positions in areas traditionally dominated by men.
To attempt to validate intellectual women’s lifelong struggle for success and acceptance by saying, “Hey! It’s now socially acceptable for women to be intelligent! Embrace this side of yourself so you can be more appealing to men!,” is a gross oversimplification of female priorities and goals, not just academically, but in general.
If you want to be sexy, be sexy for yourself! If you want to be smart, be smart for yourself, or for your community, or for the worlds you want to change! Never let yourself stoop to the level of defining yourself by what anyone, man or woman, thinks of you. Refuse to limit your definitions of yourself, regardless of your gender.
