Eh, alert

[cleolinda]

Again, since y'all seemed desperate to get some: Twilight reviews are starting to come in (updated Fandom Lounge entry). Here's one from The Chicagoist, courtesy of my friend Marcus. And Roger Ebert just barely gives it a thumbs up. What I'm getting out of this is that it's not going to set the non-believers alight with cinematic fire, but fans are

Comments

[diddakoi]

This is a wee bit off topic, but: I was reading a comic way back in the archives of Head Trip, and it was about Mallory more or less beating a mother who was teaching a little girl that 'boys don't like girls who read big books.'

This made me wonder -- are guys actually intimidated by smart women? Do they really find intelligence unattractive, or is that one of those outdated fallacies? I was wondering if you could put that question out to the readership, although I don't know how many men read this. (I had always assumed lj was pretty girl dominated.) I'll ask my guy friends, but as grad students surrounded by smart women they're probably a biased sample.

EXACTLY

[jubilantia]

About the being-aggravated-at-perceived-cuteness? That happens A LOT with me, especially since I talk extremely fast, earning me the nickname "squirrel." I'm 23, but its only in the past couple of years that I've realized how I sometimes come across to people. With my intelligence and extreme bookishness comes quirkiness and a healthy dose of biting sarcasm- which goes a long way towards intimidating the opposite sex.

I think part of my issue stems from perceived naivete, as well. On the rowing team, a lot of the people drank and what-have-you, and I didn't. Not because I was anti-social or anything, I just had strong beliefs as to what you should and shouldn't put in your body. Or, that you shouldn't try to flirt outrageously with every single guy on the team. This would often earn an "Oh, you're so cute" comment from some of my teammates- mostly from my female teammates who were also intelligent, and did try to flirt outrageously with every guy on the team. I guess people see that attitude as childish because they've

[angelan]

And then I get in a hopeless muddle because I want people to take me seriously as an academic and I don't think that's compatible with cuteness.

YES. THIS. THIS RIGHT HERE. If you ever figure out how to get around that, let me know ;).

(For me it also partly has to do with me being scared of people thinking I think I'm smarter than I am, if that makes any sense? It's not something I do for male attention - god knows it doesn't get me any!)

[particle_person]

I wonder if it depends on class somewhat. I think upper class guys may find smart women more attractive than more working class guys, which often seem to find education and intelligence in general to be a negative (not just with women). Having said that, I suspect working class guys may like women who are smart in a different way -- things like shrewdness or street smartness.

[kookaburra1701]

That's funny, because I've experienced the opposite in my (admitedly limited) dating experience. The men who were the least intimidated by my education and intelligence were construction workers and an electrician. Totally blue collar, salt-of-the earth types. But they loved to listen to me talk about opera, philosophy, history, literature, stuff like that, and be dragged along to plays and concerts. I think it was the novelty of the stuff for them, and also because they had no pretensions of knowing anything about it at all, so they could freely admit that I had more "book learning" than them.

Also, the electrician had a blast teaching me about wiring, so maybe it's having two competely different spheres of competence that made the difference?

[daemonnoire]

I don't think it depends on class so much as it depends on the other person's relative intelligence. Most of the people I have found who were intimidated or downright offended by my intelligence (men and women) were usually of average intelligence or lower. Most of the people I've found who found intelligence attractive or interesting have all been of above average or genius level intelligence. Class had little to do with it. I've known some pretty smart janitors and technicians, and we all know that there are some pretty fucking huge morons in the higher levels of our social structure.

[the_bumper_car]

I'm a guy, and it's not so much that I find intelligence attractive - it's that I see the lack of it as a total deal-breaker.

I would rather be around smart women than stupid women. My friend claims that the mother is responsible for 70% of her kid's intelligence - and in a way, I believe that. I'd never be in a long-term relationship with a dumb girl.

[nadat]

What I've seen in my own limited (female) experience is that a lot of guys like to be the hero. They want to be able to rush in and save the day and be needed.

An intelligent girl is more likely to be somewhat independant. They want a guy, but they don't need him to save them, to do everything for them.

So they go for the girls who are just a bit stupid, the ones who need their hands held when there's something stressful going on, because then they can be manly.

This is all just a bit annoying to watch when you want the guy but not the saving.

[naeelah]

I think it's a little of both. People in general, men and women alike, are intimidated by people whom they perceive as smarter. It isn't necessarily a sexist or chauvinistic thing these days -- that would be the old-fashioned reason, I think. People just don't want to feel like they're being judged or feel inferior

[jenfullmoon]

I dunno, I think when it comes to some guys intelligence is fine as long as hers is a bit below his, or her ambition isn't as high. This doesn't apply to everyone, though.

On the other hand...I rarely date, and I have only dated one guy smarter than me. Other exes have definitely been...dumber. I don't know what to make of that. I don't particularly like dumb, but not a lot of smart guys have liked me. (Or if they did, it wasn't for that, but for the boobies.)