Misadventures in Atlanta Blog is on the Move!
Attention Readers! We have moved! The Misadventures in Atlanta Blog can be found here. The new technology will improve our blog and commenting experience. Update your bookmarks and RSS feeds!
AJC.com > Living > Blog > Archives > 2007 > April > 30
Monday, April 30, 2007
How many degrees of separation?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Good morning, blog!
I just finished a piece of chick lit called “The Blonde Theory,” a novel about a successful young woman who conducts an experiment in social interaction. She thinks she intimidates men with her six-figure salary and high-class lifestyle, so she creates an alternate identity for awhile. She becomes a ditzy bartender who wears short skirts instead of Armani suits and Barbie-style makeup instead of her usual professional appearance. In the end, she realizes that although she attracts a greater number and more attractive men by acting dumb, the quality men she desires to date appreciate her for the smartie she really is.
The end. An ending so obvious and saccharine it could only come out of a fictional novel. Right?
Wrong. One of the newer women in my social circle and I were chatting Saturday evening at a barbecue, and I casually asked her what she had done that afternoon. She grimaced and glanced at her close friend as if to say, “Should I tell her?” I quickly explained that I didn’t mean to trample on any private territory; I was just making conversation. She decided to confide in me anyway.
“I’ve been working on my PhD,” she said.
Huh? What? Why the secrecy?
She explained that she started her doctorate last year but doesn’t tell people because she thinks it intimidates the men she meets. This woman is attractive, smart, and currently works as a guidance counselor at a high school.
But this confession blew my mind. Are there other women who are concerned that men will be intimidated by their careers or their salary? Does the fictional tale I just read have more root in real life than I realize? Although my male friends assure me no, that quality men aren’t scared by a smart woman, I wonder why there are clearly some women who think this is the case.
Women, have you ever acted less intelligent (or know someone who does so) than you actually are in order to get a date? If so, do these dates ever evolve into healthy relationships?
Men, does the number or type of educational degrees a woman has concern you? Are you intimidated if she’s a doctor or a lawyer? Or does it work the other way? Do you look for women who have at least the amount of education that you do?
On the flip side, men, have you ever met a woman who was intimidated by your education?
Just for fun: Men and women, have you ever been on a date with someone who was so ditzy they couldn’t have been for real?
Permalink | Comments (272) | Categories: Dating
