Do you have what it takes to be a Nerd Girl?

Do you have what it takes to be a nerd girl...Hmm maybe I do. The concept is cute (and I'm all for science outreach by many means necessary...but I'm having mixed feelings about this idea. Afraid the unintential message is - not so pretty/slim or otherwise insanely attractive girls need not apply.

I think the idea is more to promote more female role models for girls in science. Looking at their page I found this and I think it might address your hesitation as it is for "anyone who believes in our mission and is committed to helping girls reach their full potential". So I think you would have what it takes! Good Luck!

From the Nerd Girls website:

WHO WE ARE

We are a growing, global movement which celebrates smart-girl individuality thatâs revolutionizing our future.
OUR MISSION

We want to encourage other girls to change their world through Science, Technology, Engineering and Math, while embracing their feminine power.

THINGS WE BELIEVE

Brains are beautiful
Geek is Chic.
Smart is sexy.
Not either/or.

MEMBERSHIPS

Our members cross generation and gender lines - anyone who believes in our mission and is committed to helping girls reach their full potential.

This is great info. But the video for the program still sends a message, even if unintentional - Nerd Girls is a role model program for girly girls, offering them attractive women engineers to look up to so that they feel better about their decisions to study STEM.

The young women in the promotional look like models - long lean bodies, the references to self wearing high heels, and turning heads. The message (I got) wasn't oh you're a woman/girl studying engineering, no I got - You're a knockout and you're smart enough to be an engineer, too? I mean seriously, they didn't have at least the cute in the face, but thick in the waist girl in the entire promotional.

I'm just telling you my gut reaction to it and if I my 14 or 15 self saw that video I would pass on it. Other than the smarts, I saw nothing else that spoke to me.

Yeah, I wrote about the Nerd Girls 2 years ago, and this doesn't change my opinion. The sexy fashion thing is supposed to demonstrate that theyâre different from those Other Really Nerdy Ugly Girls while they still conform to societal expectations that woman be hot above all else. In the video, compare the time you see them actually building something to the time you see them bouncing around in heels. I'm sure they're all great engineers but that's not what this show will be about.

You're a knockout and you're smart enough to be an engineer, too? I mean seriously, they didn't have at least the cute in the face, but thick in the waist girl in the entire promotional.

The casting page of the website says these girls will be solving real-world engineering problems. Iâm thinking this will be more like a Mythbusters type of show. They could even be volunteering their efforts toward good causes. I think we might want to give them the benefit of the doubt, before we make any assumptions on what the show will be about. It probably depends on the network.

I believe the good intentions are there and the casted girls will be very diverse. If they all come out looking like Barbie dolls and there is no substance behind it, then well, your concerns are valid.

Letâs stop being haters and support a good message to encourage young girls to study math and science!!!!

I am an original Nerd Girl that had the privilege of working with Professor Karen Panetta at Tufts University. She is an amazingly intelligent woman and her intentions along with the other Nerd Girls are entirely genuine. We want females to feel comfortable with who they are, no matter what they look like, what their interests are, or what they choose to study in their future. We NEVER excluded girls for what they looked like! All the girls in the video were engineers at Tufts (there werenât too many of us), so I apologize if the diversity was lacking.

From my experience, there were many challenges to overcome as a female engineer in school. At times I felt that I had to defeminize myself to fit in with the male-dominated field. I remember feeling like I couldnât dress the way I wanted to because the boys in class would automatically assume that I wasnât that smart or that I was just using my appearance to get ahead. The male culture can be overwhelming and daunting. I almost transferred out of engineering entirely, until I came across the Nerd Girls. Not only did I find a great support group for women, but I could relate to them with my nerdy science interests! I loved doing outreach with the young girls from surrounding schools because I wished that I had role models that encouraged me at a young age not to shy away from my interests and full potential.

I understand your concerns about the video and the way that it may come across. However, I do hope that you will consider the marketing aspect of such a venture. Sometimes adding a little pizzaz to a film excerpt to spark interest can be misleading, but we will definitely take that into consideration for the future.

I hope that you will support the Nerd Girls in our movement to encourage young girls to change the world through the STEM fields and spread the word about the casting call & show!!!

i'm a chick with a masters in engineering. i love being a chick in engineering. i think one of the things that really sheds an unfortunate negative light on my field is all the negative stereotypes surrounding the females in it. and what i do know, is that when you try to change the opinions of the masses, you first need their attention and you need to provoke emotion to do so (good/bad/everything in between). because once the masses are "hooked" or drawn in (even if initially it's with skepticism or confusion or interest or aversion), you've got them right where you want them to tell the real story. After a glance over at the Nerd Girls site it appears to me that these ladies are doing just that, and for that alone i commend them. I look forward to seeing the positive things they do for the women in my field.

I find the Nerd Girls message to be simpler, less political, and more just about empowering girls and young women- not saying they NEED to wear makeup or high heels, but just that they CAN if they want to, and still be brainy and up to the challenge of solving the complex engineering and science problems in an increasingly challenging world. There is a question of balance, and it seems that as a "brand" the Nerd Girls may be inadvertently tweaking some cultural stereotypes too far the wrong way, as they have offended some women because they appear too cute or sexy. But I would hope we can support ANY and ALL efforts which encourage young women to be bold and daring, and to believe in themselves, and their abilities to compete and thrive in what have been historically more male dominated fields. I am rooting for them.

Hi all;
A fatal flaw was that they failed to have any representative posts ready to go up when the blog went live.

Had they done so, and had the content been surprisingly acceptable, the reception might have been better.

Instead we get this "Hi! Welcome to ShillBlog!" (crickets) and everyone, quite reasonably, expects the worst.

I understand your concerns about the video and the way that it may come across. However, I do hope that you will consider the marketing aspect of such a venture. Sometimes adding a little pizzaz to a film excerpt to spark interest can be misleading, but we will definitely take that into consideration for the future.

You're a knockout and you're smart enough to be an engineer, too? I mean seriously, they didn't have at least the cute in the face, but thick in the waist girl in the entire promotional.

d your concerns about the video and the way that it may come across. However, I do hope that you will consider the marketing aspect of such a venture. Sometimes adding a little pizzaz to a film excerpt to spark interest can be misleading, but we will definitely take