The Smart Girl Trope, Explained

We are The Take (formerly ScreenPrism).

[thetake]

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[anaespinosa]

The worst part about having been the smart girl your entire life is when you realize you were only smart in comparison to your peers but in the real world your intelligence is mostly average. Suddenly the one quality you once thought gave you an advantage over others isn't even real anymore.

[sofiarueda.]

The “dumb” girl trope plssss (Karen Smith, Aimee Gibbs, Brittany S. Pierce, etc)

[DKsilverghost]

I really dislike how a lot of those 'overly perfectionist' type of smart girl are portrayed. It's almost like they can't just show a girl who's smart and really ambitious - they have to make her almost neurotic too. As if a girl can't get good grades just because she's smart and curious and enjoys studying.

[umbrellacorporation]

Heathers is one of the few 80's movies that depict a multi-layered smart girl. Veronica is a mix of the tough girl, the cool girl and the smart girl.

[adeladybughowell]

Remember٫ there is a difference between doing good in school and being smart.

[samynaxaidan]

I think one key point missed is that the smart girl is smart because she is a hardworker. There's still the trope that she has to work hard, to study hard to achieve the same success. Not often will they be simply a genius.

[ellie]

“This says women can either be smart or pretty”
Guess I break the stereotype as I’m not either

[calibornia]

If y'all haven't already, you should break down the nice guy trope! Or the protagonist who the "Cool girl" is written for

[joyce]

One of things that hit me about the smart girl is that sometimes we dedicate ourselves to being so ‘smart’ that we begin fearing it is all just surface level intelligence, like we might one day not be smart enough to be ‘the smart girl’


Edit: wow I didn't know that there was a name for this? :0 It's apparently Imposter Syndrome, but in all seriousness it's comforting and sad to know we're not alone in this

[yes]

I feel like they should make a smart girl that doesn’t obsess over going to Ivy League or something.

[mxar]

I am loving this "insert girl" series

[juliannaflores]

I'm loving this series of breaking down female archetypes!

[lisah]

And I also like to mention smart people are not always straight A students. There are people who are smart but don't even try in school. I would love to see a storyline like that.

[THaWoM]

I think the rise of the 'smart girl trope' was just a reflection of reality: girls started outperforming boys academically. I remember going to an award ceremony at my university for the students with the highest marks, and someone commented on how unusual it was that so many of the STEM awards were going to young women, and someone else replied "No, it's always like this."

[LynnHermione]

I wish I wasn't so smart, said no smart person ever. This is "the smart girl written by people who aren't smart".

The reason Hermione is such an iconic character is because she's a self insert of Rowling-at-11, who is herself that smart. That's why she never wished she was dumb, she's not hindered by her intelligence (the thing she has to get over is her reliance of book knowledge and authoritative sources over instinct, and creativity) AND she gets more dates than the boys do.

Rowling wanting to subvert stereotypes is why Harry wears glasses and not Hermione. It's not a sign of intelligence, his eyeballs are just misshapen!

[WillScarlet]

I would love to challenge everyone by asking - if a character like Tony Stark were a woman, how popular would he be? As a man he's smart, sarcastic, and more than a little bullying but everyone thinks 'He is so badass!'
If he were a woman with the same attitude, would audiences think the same? Or would they think 'What a bitch'?

[asterfall]

My favourite is elle woods, she proves you can be good at anything and still be that girly girl.

[sugaredoleander]

I love seeing women in media who get to be smart but also pretty or athletic or extroverted or assertive or a basket case or all of them while also having their individual flaws and strengths. It's just a lot more reflective of reality and real women who are always multi-dimensional.

[JoshuaFagan]

It's interesting (and by interesting I mean depressing) that when a guy's smart, he's considered "leadership material, " but when a girl's smart, she's still pushed into a support role, and if she does express a desire to lead, she's considered conniving and careerist.