Gone are the days of the stereotypical male geek with masking taped eyeglasses and ill-fitting plaid shirts. These days, geeky is the new sexy, and we have some very gorgeous and smart women to thank for it.
Elizabeth Holmes
When Elizabeth Holmes was a young girl, she exhibited signs of brilliance early on. Whereas many kids fall behind when their families move around a lot, Elizabeth seemed to thrive on experiencing different cultures in places like China, Texas, and Washington D.C. She followed in her ancestor’s footsteps and studied medicine and engineering at Stamford University, where she discovered her fear of needles.
Elizabeth Holmes went on to invent a new test that uses a few drops of blood from a finger prick instead of a needle injection to diagnose certain diseases. Ms. Holmes has altered the way we look at geeks, and we’re thankful for it.
Amal Clooney
When you think of a barrister, you probably picture an old man in a white wig shedding dust in a dark courtroom in London. What you can picture now, thanks to Amal Clooney, is a strong, beautiful woman who rules the London legal scene with just a hint of leg showing. Amal Clooney is a lawyer, activist and author who just happens to be married to the most handsome leading man in Hollywood, George Clooney. Amal is just as likely to be found listening to a litany of human rights violations as she is sipping champagne at a movie premiere in La-La Land. If this is what it means to be a geek now, sign me up.
Angela Ahrendts
With piercing blue eyes and silky ash blonde hair, Angela Ahrendts could be a model. But the only runway you’ll find her walking is the corridor of the Apple computer company. Ms. Ahrendts is Senior VP of the Retail and Online Stores of Apple. How did she get there? It wasn’t her looks, although she could have cashed in on those had she wanted to. She worked her way up through the ranks from ordinary Ball State University in Indiana, where she obtained her Marketing and Merchandising degree. She parlayed that into a position with Donna Karan, then Liz Claiborne and then Burberry, before bringing her savvy and beauty to the doors of Apple. It makes sense that someone as chic and elegant as Angela Ahrendts would represent a company as chic and elegant as Apple.
To all the women out there who used to feel that you had to hide your intellect behind a sexy façade, now you can have both. Make a statement like these amazingly intelligent women who have turned geeky into the new sexy.
