This is a little far fetched and out there, but after an overdose of pop culture in it’s most brutal form (the romantic comedy) I have to bring it up: the cool nerd. This guy can get the girl and program a code all in one breath. It’s Ross on Friends, the ‘Mac Guy’ from the recent Apple advertisement scheme, Michael Cera in 92% of his roles, and even going back to old flicks like Revenge of the Nerds. This guy has changed the rules for men in engineering, math, physics, all the typically nerdy arenas, but no one has picked up a mirror role for women of this caliber.

While I can’t recall an instance leading lady ‘nerddom’ in any recent flick, the closest possible role, the high achiever, is punished in romantic comedies. Female leads are constantly berated for their inability to balance their lives. Romantic comedies centered around a female character (which are rather rare as it is) tell the story of finding a man to teach them how to find their femininity anew. Even Katherine Heigl’s role in Knocked Up of the successful woman portrayed as one dimensional work-aholic until a sloppy man comes along to teach them how to live again.

Maybe this is part of the fear for women to get involved in heavy science and math, we aren’t given the option to multitask. Becoming a nerd means becoming a single identity, one without fun, without beauty, and certainly without sexuality. As men have moved out of the shadow of the typical nerd stereotype, women have been pushed further into it.

Ok…that was long winded. Sorry!