Geek Chic: Smart Women in Popular Culture
The book, Geek Chic focuses on how women fit in the culture of the society by being smart (Sherie 2007). It has been divided into various chapters but our focus will be on only four chapters. These chapters are the introduction, lab coats and lipstick, you can see things that other people don’t and pretty smart.
Chapter 1: Introduction
The introduction chapter of this book focuses on the intelligence of the people living in a society and also gender. It also focuses on the actions of media regarding women and fashion. The media has been attributed to making girls more attractive. The writer criticizes this action (Jowett 2007). This can be illustrated where the writer quotes “The media is favoring the girls by showing more than what they have.”However, the writer should not have criticized the action of the media since it is a good way to market models as well as their products. The media has also contributed a lot in making women to be known better in the society. Smart and intelligent ladies have been able to get roles in the society through the media. It is therefore arguable that the media is a good channel to upgrade women and to show how they are of importance in the society.
Chapter 2: Lab Coats and Lipsticks
In this chapter, it is shown how women have reengineered the science in media. It has shown how women have been smart in reshaping the physic in broadcasting. Many women make themselves smarter by adding changes to their makeup (Jowett 2007). These include the application of lip sticks to look prettier. I agree with this since the application of lipstick has also made women to be more noticed in televisions. In the modern fashion word, it has been seen that lipsticks are important in making women smarter. However, these may bring about problems when it comes to kissing and romance. More so, the lipstick may affect the men. Writer does not show the negative implications of applying them. An analysis by doctors has shown that make up is affecting some women, though not all, due to excess application and failure to check the compatibility of your skin to these materials. It would be of much importance if the writer added the element of health when talking about the application of makeup.
Chapter 3: You Can See Other Things That Other People Cant
In this chapter, the writer argues that women have different viewing capacities. This chapter uses one example to explain this. The writer quotes “A girl in glasses will see what other people can see”. Once the glasses are removed, she will not be in a position to see well. I agree with this since in real world, a woman may not know whether she is very beautiful but the men will be in a position to see this beauty (Sherie 2007). These women may not be seeing this beauty, but the men will be appreciating it. Many people would agree with this since in the real world, a woman may think that she is inferior, but the men view her to be very attractive. On the other side of the coin, most women use mirrors to make them very attractive. Apart from this, we are not in a position to see everything and that is why we inquire what we have not seen.
Chapter 4:"Pretty Smart."
This chapter also that a girl can be smart and the same time become pretty. I agree with this since being pretty is associated with nature, although technological changes have led to increase in makeup and body products that improve beauty. Natures as well as technology have been attributed to make girls smart as well as pretty. The major quote in this chapter is “Once you are smart, you are likely to be pretty”. According to me, this argument reflects the reality of the real world since smart people work hard to look presentable in the eyes of the other people. More so, beauty starts from the inner self and once your heart is beautiful, you will desire to be beautiful in the outer self.
The writer also argues that there are many smart people in the world. My favorable quote from this chapter is “Women should strive to be pretty smart more than the others in order to be recognized”. I support this statement by relating it to the fact that beauty requires hard work in order to be recognized. On the other hand, it goes contrary to the fact that the beauty of a woman lies on the eyes of the beholder. Since the negative side of it has more weight, we can argue that recognition depends on people’s preference, and not merely by making yourself prettier than others.
Response to Jaclyn Tillinghast’s posting
According to you, romance has affected women in their cultural societies (Kaeli 2008). There have been difficulties in allocating time between romance and career. There are many movies in which romance has been the main theme. Romance has also been significant in television shows. This is a good idea from you since there are many movies relating to romance that have been aired in the television. According to your opinion, men are stronger than women in balancing career and romance. I oppose this since this is not always true. Women these days have taken their careers more seriously than before. More so, women are beginning to take management roles, leaving less time for romance.
Response to Jenifer Baker’s posting
According to you, the writer has done well in bringing out how the power puff girls have helped a lot in solving the problems of the society. Ideally, you have done well to appreciate the action of the writer, although in real life it is hard to find girls who have extra ordinary power to solve hard problems in the society. You should have therefore shown how the actions of the power puff girls are applicable in the real world. Showing the story in television without showing how it has actually helped people in the society is merely like giving a story which is just meant to entertain people.
The only disagreement you had with the writer is on the statement that privilege was the main reason why the power puff girls were seen as good models in the society. You should not have criticized this since it is the most privileged people in the society who help in solving problems in the society. More so, privilege comes with better ability (Sherie 2007). That is the reason why these girls had the ability to perform better than other girls. Girls in the real world have different abilities and this is the main reason for differences in performance.
In conclusion, women are very important in our cultural societies. They help in influencing smartness in the society. Although geek chic has some flaws, it has helped women to know the importance of being both pretty and smart. This book has also helped to integrate women in most activities of the society. It has also helped women to exercise intelligence in their day to day lives. Through this book, women can learn on improving their roles and performance in television shows.
References
Jowet, L, (2007). Lab Coats and Lipsticks: Smart Women Reshape Science on Television. London. Palgrave Macmillan.
Sherie, A, (2007). Geek Chic: Smart Women in Popular Culture. London. Palgrave Macmillan.
Kaeli, Vandertulip, (2008). Popular Culture with Glasses and a Ponytail. Texas. Irving.
