My son, ever the musical connoisseur, has decided he likes Pink's Stupid Girls. I'm not quite sure how he got to the video on You-tube, but he did and now it's a fairly constant feature in our home soundtrack.
I'm discouraging him from watching the video, since I'm not sure he would understand the message is supposed to be ironic. But I don't have a problem with the song itself.
It bothers me when I see women pretending to be helpless and foolish in order to get ahead. The message that a smart woman will have the world against her still lingers. I remember being told to hide my bookshelves since it would give the impression I was "too smart".
And yet, I think the opposite problem is starting to creep up on us. I saw one of these matchmaker shows where millionaires are set up with men and women (mostly women). The woman who runs the business explains that these men pay a premium in order to get premium wives and girlfriends. They want a woman who is beautiful enough to be a model, possesses one or more graduate degrees, can run a business and is willing to give it all up in order to take care of the man and his house (and possibly children).
Frankly I was initially shocked to discover they find any candidates at all. But then I realized it's still the old marriage market game. Women who wish to marry well now have more qualifications to pile on their resume. But there have always been women who sought power and security by being professional wives.
I'm starting to come to the conclusion that we're thinking too much about this. Like women's sexuality, our intelligence is starting to be a bad thing no matter where we put it on the spectrum.
But in the end, I still tell my son that he doesn't want a stupid girl.
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