Pretty Ladies Can Be Geeks Too. It's Allowed.

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So we're clear: Just 'cause a lady's somewhat attractive doesn't mean she must be lying if she says she likes comic books.

From Salon:

There was a time when "nerdy" was the last word a starlet would want associated with her name. The Hollywood universe was composed of proud former cheerleaders and models, girls who sat at the popular kid table in high school and never knew the indignities of an "awkward phase." But then Hollywood realized the blockbuster potential of superheroes and video games, and suddenly "guys still living in their parents' basements" became a viable demographic. There's a reason for Chuck and The Big Bang Theory and The Green Hornet. Nerds control the entertainment industry. And nerds—and their eyeballs and ticket buying dollars—cannot be won over by mere T&A. They want women who can talk Comic-Con with them. In a hilarious supercut from Filmdrunk of "hot women pandering to nerds," such formidable foxes as Annalynne McCord, Megan Fox, Mila Kunis, and Rosario Dawson admitting their geekiness to a slavering assortment of talk show hosts.

First, if "nerds control the entertainment industry," you'd think Tron: Legacy, Scott Pilgrim, and Kick-Ass would've made more money. But anyway: The Salon piece reminds me of the New York Times review that insisted the only reason women might like Game of Thrones is because of the sex that's been "tossed in as a little something for the ladies." Both the grumpy Salon write-up and the oblivious Times review are based on the same outdated assumption: That there's no way that women—especially hot ones—might genuinely like something geeky. Any woman claiming to be into Game of Thrones or Star Trek? Well, obviously she's only interested because of (A) the sexy parts, or (B) her desire to sell something to gullible dweebs.

To be fair, I'm sure that some of these women are playing it up when it comes to the salesmanship—shamelessly pandering to audiences, geek or otherwise, isn't anything new. (And psst! Handsome actors do it too.) But it's condescending and sexist to jump to that conclusion—to assume that if it's a hot girl saying she's into geeky shit, she must be lying.

This sort of thinking isn't limited to the snobbishness of out-of-touch journalists, either—even a casual perusal of fandom reveals a bitter cynicism when it comes to this kind of stuff. I'm not sure when it was that nerds started making up little tests that one had to pass before they were allowed to say they played World of Warcraft or read X-Men, but this nerdier-than-thou shit is embarrassing, and these debates over whether certain nerdlebrities are "legit" are infantile.

Maybe it's a generational thing, or maybe it's a refusal to accept what a big role geek culture now plays in pop culture as a whole. Yes, fellow nerds: The jocks and cheerleaders have started to pay attention to our formerly lonely corner of the cafeteria. But also? We aren't in high school anymore.