It's starting to dawn on me how vapid people think I am. At work and socially I find people are explaining the simplest of terms or experiences to me. Despite what I contribute to the conversation, I'm always the one people dumb things down for. This, of course, got me thinking.
I'm bottle blond, sure. I really like clothes - whatever. But does this automatically qualify me as a bimbo? At what point does a girl go from being bright to being an idiot? I'm wondering in measures of physicality (which I do consider a direct relation.) It seems that when a girl is a girl she is free to believe and aspire to whatever she wishes. She could be a scientist! She could be an astronaut! But slap some lipgloss and a bra on her and she's suddenly Malibu Barbie - and the closest she could ever get to a PHd is the lab coat in her closet.
I'm bottle blond, sure. I really like clothes - whatever. But does this automatically qualify me as a bimbo? At what point does a girl go from being bright to being an idiot? I'm wondering in measures of physicality (which I do consider a direct relation.) It seems that when a girl is a girl she is free to believe and aspire to whatever she wishes. She could be a scientist! She could be an astronaut! But slap some lipgloss and a bra on her and she's suddenly Malibu Barbie - and the closest she could ever get to a PHd is the lab coat in her closet.
I was born last and so I never got away with a childhood, I feel. When I would ask my Dad to listen to Radio Disney on long drives he would turn on Dr. Laura instead. I was learning a wider vocabulary and How To Deal With Your Mother-in-Law Moving In while most of my friends were jamming to NSYNC. Constantly spending time with a Grandmother with a genius-range IQ didn't really allow for me to enjoy ignorance either.
Alas, because of the absolute misconception people apparently get when they look at me, I feel the need to walk around with copies of my resume and hand them to people who try to strike up conversation. "What's that? Yes, I have heard of 'humidity'. Experienced it, actually. See there? Been to New York City. During the summer months, no less." "I do know what sunburns are, as a matter of fact. I got a second degree sunburn in the tropics of Australia. Yes, I know how serious second degree sunburns are..."
I know, what exaggerations. But yesterday someone asked me about San Fransisco and when I told him that I had spent a few weeks remodelling a children's school and working at a soup kitchen and spending a few days sightseeing, he took this to mean: 'No I've never been there; please tell me an in depth history of the city and where to best experience the sights'. C'mon people!
I'll be honest: sometimes I give in to it. Nay - frequently I give in to it. It's easier to stand there and let people think a misconception than continuously prove them wrong. Let me tell you though, the girl who almost skipped two grades is not the one who needs a lecture on How To Heat Up Your Cappuccino If It Gets Cold.
But thanks.
