Why can’t we be pretty AND smart?

It goes without saying that we are all, biologically attracted to beauty.

Cuter babies get more attention, more attractive kids in high school or college are put on a pedestal of sorts.

Even babies during studies were shown to stare at more beautiful people longer than uglier ones.

I always had a distinct feeling that if someone was smart, they were inevitably ugly. On the flip side, if someone was beautiful, they had to be stupid.

This is OBVIOUSLY NOT TRUE, but it’s what I felt growing up in a community that seemed to think that way.

As I got older, the braces came off and my eyesight improved immensely with contacts, I wondered why pretty girls couldn’t be considered smart.

I knew an amateur model in school who was just stunning. Gorgeous, natural flaming red hair, a petite build, with perfectly symmetrical features and curves.

A lot of girls I knew would whisper that they considered her shallow, stupid and mean, but when I had a classes with her, she was smart, very kind and a friendly personality to boot.

She was just someone that was very cool to hang out with, but people assumed all sorts of nasty things about her because of her beauty.

Why was it that we assume or try to force the ideal that pretty girls cannot be smart?

Or that it’s wrong for pretty girls to use beauty to their advantage if they have it?

It happens in life as well. People make all sorts of comments: ‘She’s too hot to be smart’, or ‘She’s ugly, so it goes without saying it’s the reason why she’s so brainy’.

It makes me wonder what the point is, of making women feel like they are in a zero sum position —- they are only either beautiful or smart. Never both.

Why?

About the Author

Just a girl trying to find a balance between being a Shopaholic and a Saver. I cleared $60,000 in 18 months earning $65,000 gross/year. Now I am self-employed, and you can read more about my story here, or visit my other blog: The Everyday Minimalist.