How can I get guys to realize that just because I have glasses doesn’t mean I’m a geek? Without my glasses on I look really pretty, because everyone has told me that. Help me shake some sense into these boys!
— Meghan
Dear Meghan,
IF it is at all true that Men Don’t Make Passes at Girls Who Wear Glasses, then it’s not because they make you look bad, it’s because they make you look … smart. This is ridiculous on many levels. We all know that glasses do not equal brains (I mean, look at Velma. She has glasses, and that still doesn’t mean she’s smart enough to… get contacts). Also, even if this stereotype were true, you’d think these boys would be psyched to date someone smart; perhaps, however, they are needlessly intimidated. Maybe they think you read more than them and they’re afraid that you’ll make all of these witty literary references (“I thought the book ‘I Know What You Did Last Summer’ was better than the movie”) that will go straight over their heads. What-ever.
Charles Atlas meets the 97-pound weakling meets that guy who’s so handsome he never really had to develop a personality meets … well, many, many women in Japan. It’s Charisma Man! I’m pretty sure the images of Japanese culture are reductive, if not offensive, but (as you’ll see) the underlying notion that the same person can be different people to different people — follow me? — is spot on. What do you think?
Filed under: Treats — posted by Kristine @ 11:26 am
The really rather cute Peter Backus, a Ph.D. candidate in economics in England, has boldly attempted to solve one of the great mysteries of the universe, otherwise known as “Why I don’t have a girlfriend.”
To do so, he employs The Drake Equation, which “is used to estimate the number of highly evolved civilisations that might exist in our galaxy,” he writes. “I have used this approach to estimate the number of potential girlfriends in the UK. The results are not encouraging. The probability of finding love in the UK is only about 100 times better than the probability of finding intelligent life in our galaxy.”
The equation was developed in 1961 by Dr. Frank Drake at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Green Bank, West Virginia. The equation is generally specified as:
G = R • fP • ne • fl • fi • fe • L
where G = The number of civilizations capable of interstellar communication R = The rate of formation of stars capable of supporting life (stars like our Sun) ne = The average number of planets similar to Earth per planetary system fl = The fraction of the Earth-like planets supporting life of any kind fi = The fraction of life-supporting planets where intelligent life develops fc = The fraction of planets with intelligent life that are capable of interstellar communication (those which have electromagnetic technology like radio or TV) L = The length of time such communicating civilizations survive
where G = The number of potential girlfriends. R = The rate of formation of people in the UK (i.e. population growth). fW = The fraction of people in the UK who are women. fL = The fraction of women in the UK who live in London. fA = The fraction of the women in London who are age-Âappropriate. fU = The fraction of age-Âappropriate women in London with a university education. fB = The fraction of university educated, age-Âappropriate women in London who I find physically attractive. L = The length of time in years that I have been alive thus making an encounter with a potential girlfriend possible.
With me so far? I am now going to attempt to apply Backus’ equation to my chance of finding a man in New York — with the following caveats. (more…)
“Learning that Rashida Jones wrote a comic book is like finding out that the hot cheerleader at your high school is really into video games and heavy metal. It’s validation that maybe the things that you love don’t necessarily make you a social outcast. To borrow a phrase from Benjamin Franklin, it’s proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.”
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