Girl revolution interrupted...

About a month ago, I had this novel thought while I was working and listening to my Pink on my IPod. Stupid Girls was playing and I just really appreciate that song. My favorite line? “Where, oh where, have all the smart people gone?” For those who haven’t heard it, it’s about the prevalence of stars like Paris Hilton and Britney Spears, and society's loss of originality and strong minded/non-sleazy young women as role models.

Just a few days before, I saw an interview with Danica McKellar, the 20-something former actress known to most as Winnie Cooper from The Wonder Years. McKellar chose to walk away from acting and instead go to UCLA and get a degree in mathematics. Her new book, Math Doesn't Suck: How to Survive Middle-School Math Without Losing Your Mind or Breaking a Nail, encourages young women who excel in math to stand out, rather than hide out, and use their brains. Here's an excerpt from Amazon:

As the math education crisis in this country continues to make headlines,
research continues to prove that it is in middle school when math scores begin
to drop—especially for girls—in large part due to the relentless social
conditioning that tells girls they “can’t do” math, and that math is “uncool.”
Young girls today need strong female role models to embrace the idea that it’s
okay to be smart—in fact, it’s sexy to be smart! It’s Danica McKellar’s mission
to be this role model, and demonstrate on a large scale that math doesn’t
suck.

So, I told my husband, I have this theory…I think that all the smart, well-rounded and wholesome girls out there on the cusp of adulthood are going to rise up against the bimbo socialites and take over as role models for the younger generation. Enough of this bleach-blond airhead act! Even Paris Hilton admits that she acts stupid for attention, although I’m not quite sure that is ALL an act. Let’s have some smart young women, not stupid girls, out there for our little girls to model after.

I’d even said to my husband, “Heck, maybe those cute girls from High School Musical will be a part of the revolution. They all seems pretty great.”

Two days later, nude photos of Vanessa Hudgens were all over the internet. And, then, while writing this I found this spread on Danica McKellar. Well, shit….I guess I was wrong.

Sigh…maybe next year...

(Speaking of the musical, stay tuned for my follow up to this email coming early this week!)