In an opinion column on the New York Times website, an articel by Maureen Dowd, called "Making Ignorance Chic", had me very worried.
There are two main stereotypes for women (at least, most of the time): the smart ones and the pretty ones. There are, of course, many exceptions to this rule, however the problem seems to be that many poeple don't realize that these exceptions exist. A man sees a pretty blonde waitressing and he might assume that she'll make an easy date (at the least). However, what he might not know is that she's working on getting her graduate degree in political studies and has the highest grade point average in her class.
A really good example of this comes from an episode of Bones that I watched not too long ago. Dr. Temperance Brennan (Bones) and Agent Seeley Booth go to a strip club in order to find out some information and end up talking to one of the lap dancers. As they talk to her they explain they're investigating a homicide and she replies that of course she'll comply and talk to them. Then she mentions that she's going to school and aced her Criminology class. The reaction from Booth is one of surprise, but of course Dr. Brennan is less objectifying and merely aceepts it.
However, it provides the example that you can be smart and still be pretty. Labels and stereotyping started as soon as we started school when we were little. We grew up doing it, without ever truly realizing it. WE are the ones responsible for this idea, not others. However, I think that we can break this habit if we just tweaked our perspective on these kinds of things. So...
Here's to everybody!
The link for the article mentioned above is here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/20/opinion/20dowd.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
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