Brilliance, no stereotypes

We’ve all met a brilliant person before. If you’re lucky, you might even be one. But what exactly does that word “brilliant” mean anyway? Is it different for men and women?

You better believe it.

While “smart” girls are stereotypically reserved, finding it important to show their intelligence but more importantly their manners, “smart” boys are characteristically cocky. Confident and self-assured, they claim their place in the classroom. Never raising a hand to answer a question but always having much to say, they are unafraid to share their ideas, and more often than not, their jokes. 

They must always have the correct answer, but should never have to work for it. And, most importantly, under no circumstances should they actually enjoy class.

This has long been the image in American culture. But, sometimes, I wonder if it isn’t dangerous. And I’m not alone. Sociologists have begun to argue that all these societal pressures are actually hurting our smart boys, forcing some to hide their true interests in order to fit the mold of an intellectual male.

You see, smart boys are not simply pushed to succeed, but to succeed “like a man.” There’s no room for an affinity for poetry or an interest in exoteric philosophy. Math and science – with the ultimate goal of making a bomb or an airplane – now, that’s a man’s domain.

And it’s not to say that some shouldn’t find science more interesting than literature, or that others won’t rather write a limerick. It’s just that we can’t allow cultural pressures to supersede our own interests. In a culture that is, at times, overtly anti-intellectual and covertly misogynistic, we cannot simply ascribe to the roles that are written for us. 

Come on “brilliant” boys. Follow your passions. Lose the arrogant facade. Be brilliant, as you see fit.