Society has a real problem. There is a general consensus in our country, if not the world, that beauty and brains do not mix. It is assumed that if you are blonde you must be crazy, wild and stupid (thanks to Jessica Simpson and Paris Hilton), if you are a red head you don’t really belong anywhere besides Ireland, and if you’re a brunette then you’re a smart, plain jane that loves to cook like Rachel Ray. We can thank popular culture for all these stereotypes. Even in the movie “Legally Blond”, when a ditzy sorority girl gets into Harvard Law to prove to her boyfriend that she is worthy of his love she is still treated like a stereotypical blond! The professor tries to sleep with her… She uses a hot pink mac laptop in lecture… She even wins the court case for a workout video trainer based on evidence that working out releases endorphins, endorphins make people happy, and happy people don’t murder. Great logic, humorous, sells lots of DVDs. That’s great and all but honestly does this help break the stereotypical mold of blondes or challenge the status quo that beauty and brains rarely coexist? I don’t think so.
Recently when I tell people I am going to law school they look at me like I’m crazy… well maybe I am crazy for wanting to go to law school, but they look at me with disdain and disbelief. I love to party, love boys, love drama, love hip-hop and rap, love driving fast cars, love shopping, love makeup. People see that superficial bullsh*t and not what’s beneath the surface. I love to learn, love to write, love to read, love to think, love to work hard, love to compete.
I am going to dedicate this first blog entry to a few other women who break this mold.
Natalie Portman. Graduated from Harvard in 2003 and went to graduate school at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Israel. She has guest lectured at Columbia University on terrorism and speaks English, Hebrew, French, Japanese, German and Arabic.
Lisa Kudrow (Phoebe on Friends) received her B.S. in Biology from Vassar College and did research on neurological science and headaches for 8 years before breaking into the entertainment industry.
Alicia Keys graduated from the Professional Performing Arts School in Manhattan at age 16 as Valedictorian and was offered a scholarship to Columbia University. She pursued her musical career instead.
Jennifer Connely went to Yale and Stanford to get her Bachelors degree in English. She also speaks French and Italian.
Sarah Palin… enough said.
SO – Next time you meet an attractive girl do not assume that’s all she is. Do not assume that she is looking to get hitched, pop out babies and be a stay at home mom. Beautiful women can be smart, driven, and have high goals.
Beauty and Brains can be synonymous.
Legally Brunnete 