Revenge of the Nerdette

To begin with, intelligent women aren't nerds. All women need to be skilled and sharpen their minds in whatever field they choose to be in or sometimes fall into. Never be codependent on a man for his income or status, women can make it on their own though we still have barriers to deal with. Go girls, get into math and science and medicine, that is where the money is. I know many women who are very smart and attractive, it's wonderful to be both. Too bad so many of my male bosses still feel threatened if I'm too good at my job or my ideas are preferred over theirs, that at times, I have to pretend that I didn't come up with an idea first or already thought of something far superior to their concept. That fragile male ego in the workplace will always exist...

My god, it's amazing how vicious some woman are here in these comments. So many woman have this unconscious vicious envy that spits out when they see woman that are beautiful and intelligent. And for all those woman saying that looking good is "buying into superfificiality"need to get a reality check. Taking care of one's appearance is extremely important in any type of job, because face it, as much as Oprah and chick flicks like to deny, the fact is looks matter. A LOT. therefore it's EXTREMELY important to look good, and as much as people might say that that type of thought is a media warped image, I'll ask you this one question, what's your first (usually lasting) impression of someone you meet? THEIR APPEARANCE. I myself am an honor student, extremely into fashion, and consider myself very worldly and kind. There's nothing wrong with caring about other things besides intelligence, it's what normal human beings are drawn to do.

Kudos to giving young women intellectual empowerment, proving they can be themselves, and still be successful in an engineering field. Yet it's also disgusting that the only time you hear of women advancing themselves in math and sciences, its accompanied by a culture that is obsessed with looks and material goods. This TV show sounds like the Hills or some other MTV garbage transplanted into an engineering college. Why not just sellout every female instead of the intelligent ones?

Great article! As a female mechanical engineer with a master's degree (also in a male dominated industry), I am so glad to see that women engineers don't have to fit the stereotypes - and we all know what those are. During my career, I wish I had a dollar for everytime I heard comments like, "Honey, you'll get your finger nails dirty!" as I walk out on a manufacturing floor, or "YOU have an engineering degree?!?" It's about time that we let young women know that you can be whoever you are and still think that science and math is cool. I think it is fantastic that these young women in your article are proud of their intelligence and accomplishments in a technical field. Such confidence is needed in order to help other younger women/girls know that being technical isn't just for the boys!

I think it is great to have attractive femail scientists and engineers. But the reality is that there are very few female Profs that fit in the "Hollywood Style" and truth be told that once you are in the field, deeply engaged in one's work (competing for research funding and all), there is no time to "look beautful everyday". Beauty requires time and effort, and so do good work and good science. Naturally, it is a conflict at all times, to choose to be "hot" or "excel in a men's field". Just my two cents....

more women will move to tech just as india did those not able to compete physically ALWAYS look for a technological fix to compete socially .....india has never had an olympic champon in any sport yet they produce thousands of soft ware engineers yearly.
in the coming century look for all areas of math and tech to dominated by those who are weak physically regardless of sex

It's about time, says this 50+ UC Berkeley math grad Black nerd with an engineering master's degree, and a job in a male dominated industry. Thanks Prof. Panetta for starting the Girl Nerd group at Tufts. You are an inspiration! I think I will start a club in my town for teen and 'tween girl geeks and nerds. Female Nerds of the world U-N-I-T-E! Kudos also to NPR for publicizing this article.

Great...now we have to be smart and effortlessly hot in the "fashion, makeup and high heels"= feminine paradigm. Where specifically will we get the time for all this?

I just hope that we don't end up with average "girl geeks" when we could have female Einsteins, Mozarts, and Bertrand Russells if we reconfigured the "femininity" constraint...our society needs all the talent it can get!

Yeah, because OBVIOUSLY "fashion, makeup and high heels" are the definition of "feminine" *eyeroll*. Way to buy into that stereotype, ladies, and make yourselves look like airheads even when you're studying difficult theorems and being brainy. News flash: The rest of us "geek" girls don't love you for it. Because now we're EXPECTED to not only be smart, but look like we just walked out of the pages of Vogue. Those of us not blessed with super-model good looks are just as smart and competent as you, we just don't get the recognition because we don't fit in with society's views of what a woman MUST look like to be considered attractive and successful. The whole point of being a geek is to be admired for your mind, not your "assets". It's sad that once again, the media focuses on these girl's "beauty" as amazing and unique (because they're *gasp* brainy), as if it's the only thing to aspire to. Your worth should not be not based on your physical appearance.

I was surprised to read a couple of negative comments on these "sexy nerds". I'm confronted every day with the manifestations of my fears that young girls today have nothing between their ears but text message shorthand, cellular airwaves, shopping and reality tv details. The girls in this article give me hope for the future of our society. I don't care what they look like! If they want to sex up their image, fine. Just so I can rest easy knowing that there are brilliant minds at work trying to solve our nation's, society's and world's problems. It's just more proof that you can't judge a book by it's cover.

This article seems to imply that in order to be part of this new, attractive subset of female geeks, one has to look and dress like a Valley Girl. "Math Doesn't Suck"? That is a book title for 5 year olds, not adult women.

Great Article! As a recent female PhD in the field of biomedical sciences, I can't tell you how many times I got strange looks at parties when I was asked my major (one guy actually thought I was joking, he asked where my glasses were!). I almost did not enter my field of choice when a college adviser my first week on Campus freshman year tried to convince me that the major I had picked was a "boys club" (his quotes). I was stubborn enough that I felt I needed to prove him wrong. Would be better if they had links in the article for the mentoring websites. Go female science Nerds!

You've got to love how female nerds who don't embrace the idea of femininity with their whole hearts are immediately demoted to second-class nerd status as soon as society has a choice. Now what does that say about the vanity and shallowness of this nation?

Gotta love how female nerds who don't embrace the idea of femininity with their whole hearts are demoted to second-class nerds as soon as there's an option. Now what does that say about the vanity of society?

Great story. Go the nerdettes. As a woman in the software developement field, it's been a great place to be - your brain really matters more than your looks. One of the great things about science, engineering and technology - is that it often doesn't matter how you look or what you wear - it really is about the work you can produce. As more and more women go into and stay in the field, hopefully those last vestiges of "sexual harassment" will disappear. Check out GirlMogul's Computer Geek shirt http://www.girlmogul.com/computer-geek.html for your own Girl Geek apparel

I am happy to see that the Nerdette group featured here are having fun with this "looks vs brains" culture that we still live in today. Women have been working on breaking through the glass ceiling for many years, not only in business but in all realms deemed "Men's" by society.. When I was a young teen I was told that since I was pretty, I should focus on trying to marry a rich man. I didn't, instead I married the class clown that used to call me a geek and cheat off me in class. I am turning 40 this summer, have been married for 19 years, have a beautiful & smart daughter, have a sucessful job typically held by a Man and up until 7 years ago I modeled once in a while for a beach boutique. Why model? Because I could. My husband still calls me a "Geek" but with a smile and usually when I am working on the computer, programming some new gadget that he has purchased or enthusiastically trying to explain the wonders of the universe to my 7 year old.
Keep it up girls!