Don’t take your brain for granted. It’s the best friend you’ll ever have. Smart girls are all the rage these days it's never been cooler to flaunt
your knowledge and ambition. So how has the Smart Girl trope
evolved to mirror changing views of what it means to be smart, and the kind of brains
we value in young women? If we look at the Brainy Girl
character type in movies and TV we see some common patterns: She's an academic whiz whose reputation
for getting good grades precedes her. “You were in my English class
last year right? You were that chick
that got an A.” She’s ambitious - often an overachiever
and a career woman in the making. “So what did everyone do today?” “Appointed a Supreme Court justice.” Because of her strong sense
of self and pride in her high IQ she can come off as
uptight, haughty or intolerant of people who aren't as smart. "Honestly don't you two read?” Her scrutinizing nature sometimes
makes her feel apart from others. "I actively work to
make people dislike me so I won't feel bad
when they do" and for a while,
she might try to flee her smart-girl persona
in an attempt to fit in. "You’re our best mathlete. "Oh god. Please don’t say that." Sometimes she can be spotted wearing the ultimate brainy girl
accessory: glasses. "Hey my glasses! I can't see without them!" And there’s a symbolic significance
to this stereotypical costume. the smart girl can see things
that others can’t. This is both a special gift
and a burden. At her worst, she’s crippled
by overanalyzing everything, and bogged down in insecurity. “You outsmart yourself. Sometimes I wish I wasn’t so smart.” But at her best, the smart girl
is a confident visionary. "Just because something works
doesn’t mean it can’t be improved." Here's our take on
the rise of the Smart Girl, what makes her tick
and why she's far more complicated than you might think. "Yes, they let women do
some things at NASA Mr Johnson and it's not because we wear skirts. It's because we wear glasses.” This video is brought to you by Brilliant,
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and annual subscription. If the mean girl is driven by rage and the cool girl is reflective
of a male fantasy, the smart girl is distinguished
by deep self-awareness. “Actually I’m highly logical
which allows me to look past extraneous detail and perceive
clearly that which others overlook.” This character’s’ curse
is that she’s an over-thinker. “I don’t know if
I believe in it. Real lasting happiness” The mind that’s always dissecting
everything can plague the smart girl with insecurities. "This is what you wanted, isn't it? To humiliate me and make me quit? God forbid you had to work with the ugly girl your dad
forced you to hire." And a lot of the behavior
that strikes others as arrogant or superior stems from
overcompensating for her fear that she can’t be “normal”
and well-adjusted like the less intellectual
people around her. “I was so… scared of you. I felt like I had to prove that I was better than you.” As we see also in her adult version,
the Smart Woman being smart doesn’t actually
help this character in her personal life especially not in romance. “On the entire SAT,
I got two questions wrong, and in subsequent years,
those questions were stricken for being misleading,
but I know...nothing about life.” Her overthinking tendencies
can lead this highly intelligent person to make not-very-smart choices. "I make AWFUL decisions! Like really, you know, really, really awful decisions." Her over-analytical nature is likewise
a problem when it comes to socializing and friendships. Sensitive and constantly readjusting
in response to her surroundings, the Smart Girl is hyper-aware
when she doesn’t fit in -- “And I just know
I'll never fit in anywhere." and feels a pressure to conform. "Straight A's, perfect attendance,
bathroom timer- I should be the
most popular girl in school." Even characters with firm convictions,
like Mean Girls' Cady Heron, can be easily swayed by
the intoxicating promise of popularity. “You know I couldn't invite you. I had to pretend to be Plastic.” “Hey, buddy, you're not
pretending anymore” Cady demonstrates the Smart Girl’s
tendency to apply her trademark academic rigor to making friends. Cady scientifically observes her peers
like she’s studying the animal kingdom. So part of why the Smart Girl
tests out other personas or cliques that aren’t true to herself
is due to her intellectual curiosity; We see this anthropologist’s streak
in Freaks & Geeks' Lindsay Weir -- a mathlete, like Cady --
who goes through a crisis of identity when she distances herself
from her egghead friends and finds herself drawn
to the "freaks" in her high school. “Um, we're cutting. Daniel
is paying his brother 20 bucks And he’s gonna buy us a keg” Lindsay finds the freaks’ slackerdom
appealing and intriguing… Her immersive study of what it’s like
to be one of them is a welcome escape from the “brainy” identity
she finds limiting and suffocating. "Man. I hate high school." Still, even this deeply
ambivalent brainiac can't fully quit her scholarly,
competitive side. "At least put me back on the team I am the best person at math
in this school." Because the brainy girl can never
shed her intellectual nature -- pride in her smarts,
and the determination to excel, are integral to who she is. "I checked this out weeks ago
for a bit of light reading" For all her overthinking-induced
insecurities, deep down the smart girl has a foundation of confidence that comes
from knowing she’s brilliant. There’s nothing more empowering than having faith in your own mind
and point of view. And this is why,
when it comes down to it, this clever girl is tough,
with a thick skin. Harry Potter’s resident
smart girl Hermione -- who embodies the smart girl’s
trademark mix of confidence and insecurity -- is, according to star
Emma Watson, "never afraid to
take control of a situation or be the brains behind anything.” She says what she thinks
and doesn't hold back. "Besides you're saying it wrong - -
it's leviosa not leviosAH" So while she may temporarily pretend
she can fit another mold, try on another identity for size, or worry she has to dumb herself
down to get the guy, ultimately the brainy girl can’t
stand letting her brainpower go to waste. “I pretended to be bad at math
so that you'd help me. But the thing is,
I'm not really bad at math. I'm actually really good at math. You're kind of bad at math.” She speaks her mind
and stands up for what she believes
like it’s an inborn instinct. “Why should I be deprived
of a good education just because I’m
geographically undesirable?” Thus the smart girl is distinguished
by her strong sense of self above all. This character’s struggle is
to get out of her own way -- to transcend her
hypersensitivity and overthinking “You're being a little -- -
Obstreperous?! Recalcitrant?! Truculent?!” “I was gonna say cray-cray.” So she can make her vision
for a better world a reality. “You have your fans
I have mine. Someday your fans
are gonna work for my fans.” The Smart Girl is
a reflection of her era -- she reveals what her culture
considers to be smart, and its attitude toward intelligence,
especially in women. We can see early precursors
to this character type in eras when women displayed fierce wit
and brainpower on screen. In the 1930’s, screwball comedy’s
witty, self-possessed heroines held their own
against their leading men -- “Stand still. Don't be nervous. - Make him stand still!” “Don't be silly. You can't make a
leopard stand still.” but in a sense these characters
had to act like men— and mirror male characteristics—
to be seen as equals. “You're a newspaperman.” “That's why I'm quitting. I want to go someplace where I can be a woman.” “You mean be a traitor!” The femme fatales in film noirs
of the 1940s and 1950s used their feminine wiles
and extreme intelligence to tempt men down a dark path -- implying there was something
dangerous about a woman being too smart. “I’m rotten to the heart. I used you just as you said” Today’s Brainy Girl trope
finds positive ancestors in young literary heroes such as clever and whip-smart girl
detective Nancy Drew, starting in the 30s. Over the decades Nancy was joined
by more razor-sharp girl detectives, and other protagonists whose intelligence
was intrinsic to their personalities, like Harriet the Spy. "I want to remember everything. And I want to know everything." Or Beverly Cleary’s Beezus Quimby
Despite this variety of precursors -- "If you need me,
I'll be in the library" the modern Smart Girl trope
really rose to mainstream popularity in the late '80s and early '90s. Unabashedly bright young women like Growing Pains' Carol Seaver. “It says here that
as the universe expands all matter is slowly degenerating
into a state of total disorganization.” ‘Thank god I thought it was just me.” Saved by the Bell’s
Jesse Spano “We are not only gonna get an A
on this project but we’re also gonna
win that science medal!” Beverly Hills, 90210's
Andrea Zuckerman “This is the top ranked
high school paper in the country
and I intend to keep it that way.” “Wow you are intense.” and Lisa Simpson
owned their mental gifts, and asserted
their academic superiority "I pick up books
like you pick up beers!" "Then you have a
serious reading problem.” The empowered Brainy Girl of this era can be seen as a response
to '80s teen movies, which had glorified
the male nerd stereotype. "I'm a nerd, and uh,
I'm pretty proud of it." Girls in those same films
could be depicted as smart and put-together-- "You're doing extremely well
in your courses, and I think your chances
of getting a scholarship are excellent." but weren't explicitly valued
for their academic prowess. After all, when The Breakfast Club
dissected the high school class system, the girls were relegated
to two categories: a princess,
or a basket case. The brain character was a boy. It wasn't until 1989's Say Anything
that a teen movie featured a brainy girl— valedictorian Diane Court— who doubled as a beautiful,
conventional romantic lead. "Diane Court doesn't go out ---
she's a brain." "Trapped in the body
of a game show hostess." The ascension of the smart girl can also be explained
by major societal shifts. In the '80s, women became a much more
dominant force in the US workplace. So these new brainy girls
had their hard-working moms as role models, and knew
that they too one day could be powerful
working women. “Why did you have to
go back to work?" "I didn't have to--
I wanted to." Thus career ambition
is a key part of the Smart Girl from the 80s on. This makes her inspirational,
but it can also be exhausting. “No stories, no time --
S.A.T.s.” She frequently puts herself
under so much pressure that she cracks. “I’m so... scared.” This overachiever is plagued
by an obsessive pursuit of perfection and a competitive streak,
as she’s driven to prove she’s the best. “I have 699 A's. I need one more. Give me the A, Feeny!” Starting in 2000,
Gilmore Girls gave us two contrasting examples
of this ambitious smart girl. "What did you get?" "It's personal." "Why won't you tell me?" "Because it's none of your business." Sweet Rory's identity is wrapped
up in going to Harvard. "I can't believe it ---
I'm actually standing outside of Harvard." But Paris is a much more extreme
type-A straight-A student, who will stop at nothing
and step on anyone on her way to the top. "She's got a C average
which means she's either lazy or stupid. I can work with either." Alexis Bledel who played Rory
actually voiced that: "As the years went by
on Gilmore Girls, I noticed that Rory
was kind of like an idealized product
of the show’s imagination because she was really
perfect in a lot of ways, which started to
annoy me a bit." So these comments
back up the idea that ruthless, combative
Paris is perhaps more true to the Smart Girl character type. “I'm just dealing with
the usual incompetence around here that's all.” To be fair,
there’s a good reason why smart girls have long
stressed about being flawless: they had to outperform
males to be taken seriously. “The company needs a man
in this position.” “Clients would rather
deal with men when it comes to figures.” I lose a promotion because
of some idiot prejudice.” “Spare me the
women's lib crap.” Still, as she grows up,
the Smart Girl benefits from learning to accept
the occasional failure or slightly less than ideal result,
in order to become a more self-assured,
mature individual. In the '90s,
third-wave feminism begat riot grrrl
a movement that encouraged teens
and women to advocate for their bodies
and their rights, and recognize the systems
of oppression that didn't work
in their favor. "Haven't you ever heard
of the women's movement?" "Sure--put on something cute
and move it into the kitchen" And as the '90s progressed,
brainy girls were earnest and socially conscious,
not afraid to question authority, rattle the status quo -- "Isn't that just
pointless busywork?” "Bull's-eye. Get cracking." or challenge the patriarchy. “May I remind you both
that we are girls, we are not foxes
or any other animal that you might like. You understand?” “Sure, kitten.” Even though this character is most identified
with her bookishness, if you think about it
that old-school smart girl who’s merely academically driven
is based on a narrow, traditionally male idea
of intelligence. Over time, the Smart Girl
character type has added more dimensions to her braininess --
she might be creative instead of purely
interested in logic and facts -- “I'll be unappreciated
in my own country, but my gutsy blues
stylings will electrify the French." or may have found humane, empathetic
outlets for her talents. The contemporary smart girl
is empowered by her intelligence to leave the classroom
and use her brains to impact the world. "But then I think
about Sebastian St. Clair and going to work with him, helping people
and making a difference. And I feel like I have
a reason to get out of bed." Perhaps what makes her
so uniquely effective is that she’s used to being right,
when others are wrong. At times this can
make her an irritating know-it-all, as she’ll most definitely
tell you when you make a mistake -- “I'm naturally inquisitive. Yes, which is also sometimes
confused with being naturally obnoxious.” but it also means
she’s used to trusting her instincts and her own
far-seeing brain. She can envision
the world’s future problems (and solutions), and believe in her insights, even when others
take a while to catch up. “You are teaching me? What do you know?” “More than you.” So it’s no surprise
than many of today’s renowned real-life smart girls
are entrepreneurs or activists who enact the change
they want to see in the world. "You must fight others,
but through peace and through dialogue,
and through education." Even if the Smart Girl
was embraced from the 80s on, often her story still put her in the
shadow of a Cool Girl. “I look at you at school
and I think you have the most perfect life.” Narratives have long
sent the message that, for women, having beauty
or brains is an either-or. "It's like a scientific fact
that you can be cute or you can be deep--
but only one in a million can be cute and deep." The false beauty vs brains
dichotomy intentionally limits women to being
just one thing and ignores that Smart Girls
(like people in general) have complicated
many-sided natures. “And they say you can't
be pretty and smart.” Increasingly in recent decades,
this character has begun to escape her narrow,
one-size-fits-all personality, and that’s made for more interesting—
and relatable—movies and TV. Gone are the days
when prominent smart girls were overwhelmingly white. Buzzfeed identified
that in recent years we’ve seen a rise
of the “black-girl nerd” onscreen. "Right now my little sister
could hack you." Gone are the days
when she wasn’t considered a viable romantic lead. "I thought, 'I have never
seen anyone read so intensely before in my entire life. I have to meet that girl'." Also gone are the days when
the smart girl was automatically a social outcast. In 2019’s Booksmart,
quintessential Smart Girl Molly -- who’s superior about
her college choice faltering in the romance department,
and alienated from her peers is confronted
with the revelation that some of the popular kids
she knows are also smart and headed to great colleges. "I'm going to Yale too." So Booksmart leaves us
with the takeaway that our assumptions
about smart kids and popular kids (many of which stem
from pretty old movies) are outdated and wrong. No one Smart Girl is like another --
and that’s how it should be. “We are not one-dimensional. We are smart and fun.” This video is brought
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