Geek Chic: Smart Women in Popular Culture

Geek Chic: Smart Women in Popular Culture

edited bySherrie A. Inness

palgravemacmillan

GEEK CHIC

© Sherrie A. Inness, 2007.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in anymanner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of briefquotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

First published in 2007 byPALGRAVE MACMILLAN™175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010 and Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire, England RG21 6XSCompanies and representatives throughout the world.

PALGRAVE MACMILLAN is the global academic imprint of the PalgraveMacmillan division of St. Martin’s Press, LLC and of Palgrave Macmillan Ltd.Macmillan® is a registered trademark in the United States, United Kingdom and other countries. Palgrave is a registered trademark in the EuropeanUnion and other countries.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Geek chic : smart women in popular culture / edited by Sherrie A. Innessp. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.Contents:Who remembers Sabrina? Intelligence, gender, and the

media—Beauty and the geek: changing gender stereotypes on . . . —Labcoats and lipstick: smart women reshape science—“You can see things thatother people can’t”—“Pretty smart”: subversive intelligence . . . —Superslacker girls—Back to the future—Dangerous minds—Raising the bar—Savvy women, boy’s school politics, and the west wing—Heckling Hillary.

1. Women in popular culture—United States. 2. Gifted women.3. Women in mass media. 4. Mass media—United States. 5. Intellect—Social aspects—United States. I. Inness, Sherrie A.

HQ1421.G43 2007302.23082 92015060023790

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Design by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd., Chennai, India.

First edition: May 2007

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Transferred to Digital Printing in 2008

ISBN 978-1-4039-7903-2 ISBN 978-1-137-08421-7 (eBook)

DOI 10.1007/978-1-137-08421-7

Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2007 978-1-4039-7902-5

For Alycia Moulton

Contents

List of Figures ix

Acknowledgments xi

Introduction: Who Remembers Sabrina? Intelligence, Gender, and the Media 1Sherrie A. Inness

1 Beauty and the Geek: Changing Gender Stereotypes on the Gilmore Girls 11Karin E. Westman

2 Lab Coats and Lipstick: Smart Women Reshape Science on Television 31Lorna Jowett

3 “You Can See Things that Other People Can’t”: Changing Images of the Girl with Glasses, from Gidget to Daria 49Cindy Conaway

4 “Pretty Smart”: Subversive Intelligence in Girl Power Cartoons 65Rebecca C. Hains

5 Super Slacker Girls: Dropping Out but Divinely Inspired 85Michele Paule

6 Back to the Future: The Brilliant Witches in Bewitched 103Linda Baughman, Allison Burr-Miller, and Linda Manning

7 Dangerous Minds: The Woman Professor on Television 121Leigh H. Edwards

8 Raising the Bar: Brilliant Women Lawyers from Ann Kelsey to Miranda Hobbes 137Sharon Sutherland and Sarah Swan

9 Savvy Women, Old Boys’ School Politics, and The West Wing 153Beth Berila

10 Heckling Hillary: Jokes, Late-Night Television, and Hillary Rodham Clinton 171Jeannie Banks Thomas

Contributors 189

Index 193

viii ● Contents

List of Figures

1.1 School children draw IT workers 151.2 Rachel Muir, founder of Girl Start 191.3 Professor Ellen Spertus, Sexiest Geek in 2001 204.1 Blossom, the leader of the Powerpuff Girls, prefers toys

like chemistry sets and the Doctor Didi doll 734.2 In the opening sequence of Cartoon Network’s

Totally Spies, the intelligent Sam is depicted as both a reader and a fighter 74

4.3 Disney’s Kim Possible outwits her foes with a mix of intelligence and martial arts moves 75

4.4 Shego of Disney’s Kim Possible is a smart and sarcastic villain 79

6.1 Endora teaches Tabitha the finer points of flying 1086.2 Three generations of witches relax on Danish modern 112

Acknowledgments

This anthology has benefited from the input of friends and colleagues. I wouldlike to thank the people who have read drafts of the entire book or chaptersbefore its completion, including Kristin J. O’Hara and Whitney Womack.

I wish to thank everyone at the press who helped make this book possible, includingAmanda Johnson Moon, Rick Delaney, and Erica Warren.

I also appreciate my friends’ support. Irene Gammel, Di Maddison, Janice Molloy,Gillian O’Driscoll, and Wendy Partridge deserve my gratitude. My Miami Universitycolleagues, including Mark Christian, Elizabeth Claussen, Norma Evans, KelliJohnson, John Krafft, Diana Royer, Carol Shulman, Connie Webb, and WhitneyWomack provided invaluable support and encouragement during the process ofwriting this book. Finally, I wish to thank Alycia Moulton, whose kindness andcompassion continue to inspire.