Intelligence vs. Icon

                Marilyn Monroe was an icon for a generation and has remained iconic throughout the ages. I think that she hid her smarts because simply put, smart women often weren't seen as hot. Being smart might not have made her seem approachable or sexy. Then, she would not have gotten the roles she had. She might have hid her intelligence and wore a mask to simply keep getting good movie roles and continue her career. Her iconic look and act as a dumb blonde was simply an act to keep people interested. Acting like a dumb blonde keeps you more relevant than someone who lays low and reads instead of going out at night. Ms. Monroe might have been smart enough to pick up that people were calling her a blonde bimbo and might have continued to hold up the act because it was easier than trying to convince people you're smarter than they believe you are. She might have known that even if she tries her hardest to convince people that she was smart, people are set in their beliefs and would have refused to accept the fact that beautiful women can be smart. She might have known that people are only going to look at her for her beauty anyway, so why bother trying to show people she's intelligent when they only want to look at her? When it all comes down to it, I think Marilyn hid her smarts because she knew the world wasn't ready for the real Marilyn and playing dumb was the only way to accomplish her goals in that time period.

                Today, there are a number of well known celebrities whose intelligence is ignored of not even known. I think, as 2009 Jezebel article points out, openly smart educated women are often called negative things, like an "annoying bitch"  or a "horse-toothed snob," or they may think that she's "cocky" or "smug." This is obviously an incentive for women to stay quit about their intelligence as it's evident that we currently live in a society that values looks over intelligence, in terms of women. Women don't want to get made of for their intelligence in an already critical world. Braininess is not considered a feminine gift in the current state of our society and culture. For example, the Kardashians are all intelligent in their own way but often hid it, their intelligence only used behind the screen in their multiple successful business ventures, where she is still publicly known as the women with a big butt and a sex tape. Kate Beckinsale attended Oxford University where she studied French and Russian literature, is fluent in German, Russian, and French, but sadly, she is mostly known as the hot girl from Van Helsing. Cindy Crawford is an iconic fashion model who graduated high school as valedictorian and graduated Northwestern University where she studied chemical engineering, yet, she's the famous model with the mole. All these women, and many more, are very smart and know our social structure and that in our society looks are more important for women than intelligence, and they are able to capitalize off of that to have successful careers, even if it means hiding their intelligence.

http://jezebel.com/5162403/why-dont-we-value-intelligence-anymore