Are Nerdy Girls Sexy Now?

After endless amounts of drool over sexy male nerds (like the recent NY Observer piece about male "nerds of steel," hailing the arrival of geeks who are buff), many men and women are cheering about the "revenge of the nerdette" -- the rise of the sexy nerd girl.

Of course, until now female geeks' sex appeal has been roughly equivalent to that of Napoleon Dynamite. Wikipedia describes the nerd girl as a stock character who wears eye glasses, dresses unfashionably, wears pigtails (and other little girl items like mary-jane shoes and knee high socks), is shy and socially inept and either overweight or gangly. More recently, they sometimes have a passion for social justice (see Simpson, Lisa) are feminist or post-feminist (see Granger, Hermione) or come up with the piece of knowledge that enables the plot to be resolved (see Velma from Scooby Doo). And sometimes, just sometimes, they get a makeover and become kinda pretty albeit in an awkward way (see Willow from Buffy the Vampire Slayer).

But that's not what nerd girl 2.0 looks like. The new, tech-savvy, sci-fi loving nerd looks more like a cheerleader than a mouse: this week's Newsweek introduces us to the new nerd girls, "they're smart, they're techie and they're hot."

The Nerd Girl group at Tufts University, for example, "may not look like your stereotypical pocket-protector-loving misfits -- [one] has a thing for pink heels -- but they're part of a growing breed of young women who are claiming the nerd label for themselves. In doing so, they're challenging the notion of what a geek should look like, either by intentionally sexing up their tech personas, or by simply finding no disconnect between their geeky pursuits and more traditionally girly interests such as fashion, makeup and high heels." An example of the new prototype is Cristina Sanchez: a master's student in biomedical engineering and a former cheerleader who can talk "endlessly" about aerospace.

Newsweek goes on to say that they've modeled themselves after Tina Fey, whose character on 30 Rock is a "Star Wars-loving, tech-obsessed, glasses-wearing geek, but who's garnered mainstream appeal and a few fashion-magazine covers. Or on actress Danica McKellar, who coauthored a math theorem, wrote a book for girls called "Math Doesn't Suck" and posed in a bikini for Stuff magazine. Or even Ellen Spertus, a Mills College professor and research scientist at Google -- and the 2001 winner of the Silicon Valley "Sexiest Geek Alive" pageant."

But when nerd girls stop looking like dorks and start looking like cheerleaders, and get more attention for both sexiness and smarts as a result, is that a post-feminist triumph? Or is it a return to the days of Mad Men, when lipstick, not ideas, was the most important thing to grace a woman's lips?

Clearly, some things have changed. A recent Pew Internet & American Life project found that among users 12 to 17, girls dominate the blogosphere and social networking sites, and outnumber boys in creating websites of their own. Women gamers now even outnumber men ages 25-34, according to a 2006 study by the Consumer Electronics Association.

Because of the numbers, sites catering to nerd girls are flourishing. Their must-see-Web-TV is GeekBrief.TV -- hosted by a make-up clad, pigtail-free geek whose recent posts salivate over a Qik private alpha test for iPhones, for example, trialing it, and finding bugs in it that are "exciting" to troubleshoot. And there's a survey polling readers about the best gadget stores, which ends in a colorful chart.

And of course, there's io9, a must-read news aggregator (that's part of the Gawker family), all about sci-fi gossip. Five of the 12 staff are women, including the top and assistant editors. It features important topics like whether Battlestar Galactica copied (and improved upon) Star Trek, how dystopian fiction can save the world and five lessons the Hulk should have learned from Hyde.

Then there's the upcoming reality TV show, Nerd Girls, currently casting (you have to be enrolled in university math, science or engineering to qualify -- sexy Gen X and Boomer science geeks who trail blazed have been bulldozed away in favor of those for whom they cleared the path).

"They're 'Beauty and the Geek' all in one package! Meet the NERD GIRLS -- an impressive team of female engineering students, just one year away from landing top jobs with $70,000 salaries. They turn heads when they enter a room -- they're stylish, self-possessed, ambitious and confident. Whether building a solar car or harnessing wind power on a remote island, these girls fully intend to change the planet with their own ingenuity and hard work."

The show aims to debunk the two myths that boys are better at math and science than girls, and that a female engineer is a socially inept girl with no sense of style.

Yay, right?

Well, Newsweek reports there's still a dichotomy between culture and the workplace. "Forty years ago women made up just three per cent of science and engineering jobs; now they make up about 20 per cent. That sounds promising, until you consider that women earn 56 per cent of the degrees in those fields.

"A recent Center for Work-Life Policy study found that 52 per cent of women leave those jobs, with 63 per cent saying they experienced workplace harassment and more than half believing they needed to "act like a man" in order to succeed. In the past, women dealt with that reality in two ways: some buried their femininity, while others simply gave up their techie interests to appear more feminine."

Oh-oh.

Meanwhile, USA Today reports that the late Tim Russert initially declined NBC executive Michael Gartner's offer to host "Meet the Press" back in 1991, saying "Look, I can't do it, I'm ugly," to which Gartner responded, "I'm not looking for a handsome guy, I'm looking for a smart one." And to which blogger Doree Shafrir responded that we've always allowed overweight and unattractive male anchors and have always expected female pundits to be both intelligent and beautiful.

Sure, the new male anchor model is Anderson Cooper and not Walter Kronkite; men are definitely starting to fall under the beauty myth spell. But women have always had to get attention with their looks in order to get an audience for their smarts. And even now, the closest equivalent reality show to Nerd Girls, Beauty and the Geek, aimed to find mates for men unfailingly oblivious to grooming. The message: male geeks don't need to be physically attractive to get a good job or a mate.

Let's hope there's something to the new sex appeal of nerdy women, who love nothing more than a hard equation, have a penchant for gadgets, and spend their free time looking for bugs in new software applications -- and happen to like girly things as well. Shades of Battlestar Galactica, in which all male and female fighter pilots have sciency brains, a wardrobe that consists mostly of tank tops worn backwards (with only the occasional, fun appearance of makeup or heels), and lots of admirers.

Then again, if we're all just being reminded, once again, that smart women get more male attention and career success if they wear high heels and makeup, then, please, call me when you've changed the channel from Mary Tyler Moore.

This post was originally published on The Tyee.

Comments

[Joseph A. Palermo - Huffpost Blogger]

I love nerdy girls, I married one!

[Lauren Cahn - Huffpost Blogger]

You can't call Scarlett Johanson (however she spells it) a nerd, no matter what she's wearing, no matter what color her hair is. Funny to use that photo for this story1

[inmyhumbleopinion]

There's so much wrong with this post I'm not sure where to start.

How about we just stop labeling people, period? How is it that the high school herd mentality still haunts people throughout their lives? It worries me so that my genuinely math and science gifted children shun things like math club because they don't want to be labeled geeks. But I'm not sure that making geeks the next rock stars and celebrities is the answer either, because it continues to reinforce the notion that physical perfection is still the coin of the realm.

The real answer lies in getting people to respect each other's differences and to get the media to focus on more than eye candy.

[MGhamma]

So, smart and hot aren't mutually exclusive anymore? Cool.

[loril]

Wow. I am so old that I remember qualifying as a nerd girl in high school without being either technically or mathematically inclined. Back in the dinosaur days (this was late 70s/early 80s) a girl (or even a guy) could qualify for nerd-dom merely for wearing glasses, working harder at school work than at sports or partying, and being a book-worm.

We even had "culture nerds" back then. Remember the kids who were, perhaps, over-infatuated with band or drama club activities?

Among other stereotypes and over-gener­alizations that bug me...I am getting tired of hearing that there is now only one definition of "smart". And that is the left-brained, techie version of "smart".

I would never put myself in the upper echelons of smart...I know I am merely average. However, just because I am not a Trekkie or a Star Wars fanatic...and I am not a gadget addict...does this now put me in the "stupid" group? Perhaps, it is even smarter to live without all these tech playthings that become obsolete 6 months after you purchase them?

What I am trying to say (in my dim and right brained way) is that even intelligence has been commodified and is now represented by the toys you buy at ThinkGeek.com and the frames you select.

But I'm a sour grape. Arts and Humanites geeks top out at $40,000/year and we are a society purely defined by earning potential.

[StanTheManic]

The photo accompanying this "story" is of two ACTRESSES (read that, NOT real people) portraying a scripted scenario, in a MOVIE they made YEARS ago. By the way, both actresses are better know for the hootrons and push-up bras on the red carpet.

WHAT THE FRICK DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH THE REAL WORLD?

[Guitarsandmore]

When you can look at a person and see what they need and not what you want from them, then you have a chance of making a relationship work. Caring happens when you can put aside your own prejudice to help another person and learn to tolerate their own prejudice. Love grows when you can trust each other and count on each other for help.

Nerdy girls can be exciting, sexy, and fun, and all that. It depends, does she always seem to be running for president, auditioning for the next part, wanting medals pinned to her chest or is she humble and kind and lovable? You can be smart and a real pain in the ass or a perfect angel. Choose.

[ArtBellFan]

HuffPost's Pick

"looks more like a cheerleader than a mouse"
And what happens to the nerdy girls that look more like a mouse than a cheerleader? Just shove them aside and forget that they contribute something to society? I hate trendy anything and I hate conforming to a one-set image I'm supposed to maintain; an image dictated by corporations placing ads in fashion magazines, that H'wood movies will never stray from. We are not all sheep. I can only go out with guys who are real and come from a place that doesn't care so much about what other people think. I accept the limitations of being less compatible to most guys because to change to fit some expectations is putting my integrity at stake, which is about being an individual minded person. My integrity is probably that last thing I have that sets me apart from the sheep that think they have to do what everyone else does. I'm happier on my own than with someone that is nothing like me... than with someone that enjoys making fun of who I am because I don't conform. (Yes, this has happened to me and I won't take it any more.)

[luckysun]

wow, put some glasses on scarlet johanssen and thora birch and they're still hot. what a shocker. when glasses make unttractive women desirable you'll have a story.

[twohearts]

Wow! I just don't understand this "reality." By definition I am not a nerd (no science, math or tech degree), but I don't remember anyone caring about this when I was in college (1970's). People like me now, and liked me then because I am very smart & funny & can talk about a LOT of things with some authority (esp. music & literature, politics, history, sociology, and even about cars, Star Trek and other things. )
I always wore glasses & used to be very shy - that's nerdy? How can a rock musician be a nerd? I didn't care what I wore, generally.
What about the latest corporate and medical tech-women? Does being a sexy nerd end at age 30??

Very strange indeed. (Oh yeah, I am a woman.)

[mabinog]

amantell comment brings up a question for me. What is properly socialized?

Buying into unrealistic standards of beauty and popularity that lead to eating disorders and sometimes suicide?

A stunning lack of independent thought that allows politicians to lead by cult of personality and through hypocrisy?

Shallowness on such a level that, on this very blog, a large portion of the coverage is about anything and everything celebrity just short of the regularity of their bowel movements?

Being a follower of any numerous organized religions that are mostly about social competition, domination, and control not about God.

An economic socialization that teaches profligate consumerism of popular culture products that serve little meaningful purpose.

Our culture neither cares to take a critical look at itself nor would bother to change because we are all so properly socialized.

[amantell]

The foundations for this article are a little scurillous. Although women's (and men's) academic and career interests have naturally changed with the times and culture, there will continue to be a number of talented females who are socially inept. They--and their male counterparts-- will continued to be labeled as nerds or by whatever other perjorative term is popular. It's fair to say that a person who's properly socialized, as the women and men described in this article are, are not nerds.

[recless]

Me'thinks the "nerd" label is getting diluted (or maybe deluded). If you have time to go to the gym, eat right and stay in shape, you can't be a nerd. Nerds will work 12 to 16 hours a day. Then go home and stick their noses in their Playstations or X-Box for hours, then try to get a nap before work. They don't get dates not because they don't want them, but rather because they never make the time to do so. I'm thinking back to when I was writing C++ libraries for a major compiler. Sixteen hour days seven days a week (usually just one day off a month). Just because some have "claimed" the term nerd for themselves doesn't make them one.

[TroubleNYC]

I like a woman with glasses. Is that "nerdy" enough?

[wagadog]

SFW? I like a bicycle with a Shimano Derailleur.

[texastornado]

OOOOOOOOOOLALA