Beauty and the Geek
I've been hiding a secret--I've been watching a reality tv show. It started because Javert's coworker went to her senior prom with one of the contestants and we wanted to see what he looked like. Unfortunately, I am now addicted to this program. Basically they pair up a male "geek" with a female "beauty" and both individuals compete against other similar teams to try to win at tasks designed to improve their coolness (for the men) on their intellect (for the women). Each episode has two tasks, one for the men and one for the women, and the two winning teams get to select two other teams to compete for the chance to remain on the program (the losing team gets eliminated.)
The thing is, most of the "geeks" aren't geeks at all. Maybe I'm biased because I married someone who went to MIT, have a brother who went to MIT, and have a father-in-law who went to MIT, but most of these guys seem pretty normal to me. Yeah they might be a little obsessed with Star Trek (although that one guy NEEDS to get rid of that uniform) and a little self-conscious, but who isn't? I have been known to watch multiple episodes of Star Trek myself and I may or may not have the complete TNG episode guide on my bookshelf at my parents house. (And maybe I am a geek too.)* They all seem like more-or-less interesting people who happen to have made socially unacceptable clothing or hair decisions. I guess they could learn to focus more on girls' personalities rather than their bodies, but I feel like almost every guy alive needs to do this, so these particular ones are not any exception.
Now to the women. I wouldn't consider most of these women beautiful, but apparently some people do since they all seem to work as models. Most are tall, blond, skinny yet "womanly," and presented as totally stupid. I don't think that having big breasts means a person is stupid (duh!) or beautiful but I do know about how they turn a normal person into a sex object, and it's easier than you might think to get sucked into that impression of yourself. But it's hard to tell at all what the women on this show think about themselves, because they're only ever shown cuddling in bed or sunbathing or cheering on their teammates. You don't hear about their "transformation" like you do with the men. Their tasks have them memorizing facts so they can act as museum guides or reading snippets of Freakonomics so they can interview one of the authors. So far, these tasks do not appear to have affected them at all--these women appear to be quite happy with their (intellectually vacant?) lives. I'd like to say they have started to appreciate the "geeks" more--and they do seem to now appreciate the guys personalities--but I don't see any of them dating these geeks anytime soon despite the guys' (appealing?) personalities.
I hate that "geekiness" is something that the men need to overcome when really they just need some self confidence and a change of clothes. I also hate that "beauty" means "no brains."
I think the show would be much more interesting if both groups were the same gender. How great would it be to have "geeky" guys pair up with "cool" guys, or ugly girls with wolf-dog shirts pair up with models?
*I took the Are You a Geek? quiz on the show's website, and the result: I'm Very Geeky.
The thing is, most of the "geeks" aren't geeks at all. Maybe I'm biased because I married someone who went to MIT, have a brother who went to MIT, and have a father-in-law who went to MIT, but most of these guys seem pretty normal to me. Yeah they might be a little obsessed with Star Trek (although that one guy NEEDS to get rid of that uniform) and a little self-conscious, but who isn't? I have been known to watch multiple episodes of Star Trek myself and I may or may not have the complete TNG episode guide on my bookshelf at my parents house. (And maybe I am a geek too.)* They all seem like more-or-less interesting people who happen to have made socially unacceptable clothing or hair decisions. I guess they could learn to focus more on girls' personalities rather than their bodies, but I feel like almost every guy alive needs to do this, so these particular ones are not any exception.
Now to the women. I wouldn't consider most of these women beautiful, but apparently some people do since they all seem to work as models. Most are tall, blond, skinny yet "womanly," and presented as totally stupid. I don't think that having big breasts means a person is stupid (duh!) or beautiful but I do know about how they turn a normal person into a sex object, and it's easier than you might think to get sucked into that impression of yourself. But it's hard to tell at all what the women on this show think about themselves, because they're only ever shown cuddling in bed or sunbathing or cheering on their teammates. You don't hear about their "transformation" like you do with the men. Their tasks have them memorizing facts so they can act as museum guides or reading snippets of Freakonomics so they can interview one of the authors. So far, these tasks do not appear to have affected them at all--these women appear to be quite happy with their (intellectually vacant?) lives. I'd like to say they have started to appreciate the "geeks" more--and they do seem to now appreciate the guys personalities--but I don't see any of them dating these geeks anytime soon despite the guys' (appealing?) personalities.
I hate that "geekiness" is something that the men need to overcome when really they just need some self confidence and a change of clothes. I also hate that "beauty" means "no brains."
I think the show would be much more interesting if both groups were the same gender. How great would it be to have "geeky" guys pair up with "cool" guys, or ugly girls with wolf-dog shirts pair up with models?
*I took the Are You a Geek? quiz on the show's website, and the result: I'm Very Geeky.
posted by Emil at 10:06 AM
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