Reply #74: I can relate, on may levels.

[americanstranger]

Fellow geek here (self-employed designer/developer here), and my wife may be classified as a super-geek (she's upper-middle-management for a company I won't name, but their initials are MS :)).

She is one of the best in the industry at what she does (IT and Project Management), but because she is blonde and small and extremely good looking, a lot of people assume she's a 'dumb blonde.'

Needless to say, she has worked hard to achieve everything she's achieved in her career, is stunningly intelligent, and she is merciless when she encounters someone who treats her like a 'dumb blonde.'

When the local company she worked for was acquired by said large software company last year, the comapny announced that they would meet with the head of IT to cover every aspect of network operations, and that they expected these meetings to take two days.

My wife was head of IT. She ran the meeting and produced network and system documentation that was so detailed and comprehensive, the meeting was over by lunchtime on the first day. That's probably why she still has her job and many of the people she worked with no longer have theirs. The company saw the value in holding on to a woman who ran rings around their organizational 'experts,' despite the fact that she is a Blonde White Woman.

You're right about your relationships shaping your world view. My view on Blonde White Women is shaped by my wife, who outright defies every stereotypical point where blondes or women are concerned.

- as