A Woman's Brain, A Woman's Beauty

Sunday, December 21, 2008

Is it possible for a woman to celebrate her brains as well as her beauty? Well, the answer is quite obvious - of course. But in my opinion, the topic should be discussed a bit. The media today seems to imply that intelligence and beauty are mutually exclusive in women, as if to suggest that if a woman has a high IQ, there is a fair chance that she may not be aesthetically favorable in the human gene pool (or that her beauty is not necessarily praiseworthy). If you need examples, look at women who are celebrated for their beauty on television (to name a few, Angelina Jolie, Tyra Banks, Jessica Simpson, Paris Hilton), and look at the women who are celebrated for their intelligence (e.g. Hillary Clinton, Condoleeza Rice, Suze Orman, Rachel Maddow [who are all beautiful in my opinion]). It is very rare that I see a woman on television celebrated for their beauty as well as their intelligence - and that is quite annoying (and for the extreme right conservatives who are reading this - I do not believe Ann Coulter fits either standard!). We are living in the 21st century, where women are flocking to colleges, grad schools (they even outnumber men at a lot of academic institutions today), and yet, the media seems to lag behind the times. Instead, shows like "Girls Next Door" continue to portray women as airheadish, uneducated and dependent on men to support them. Tyra Banks (as much as I appreciate "The Tyra Banks Show" when decent topics come up) doesn't stray far from playing a "ditzy" character at times, which may make her more likeable and cute, but unfortunately makes her come off as airheadish as well. And let's not forget about the hip hop music industry today, which pretty much considers women as accessories - interesting "jewelry" to dispose of at their will, if they so choose.

I think it's about time that the media promotes more "Natalie Portman" types - rather than view them as the exception ("She's beautiful! And she went to Harvard? Wow!"). Seriously, get a grip. There are plenty of Natalie's out there - they are not as rare as the media may suggest.