I’ve been hearing the debate all around the Internet about “hot guys and geeky women” and figure it’s about time for me to add my two cents. Yeah, I think it’s an interesting concept and I’d like to see the geeky girls have the opportunity to break out of their shells and realize what great and beautiful people they are. There’s just one problem: hot guys… are assholes.
Perhaps I’m basing my opinion on social stereotypes, but I honestly don’t think the interaction between everyone in the mansion would be nearly as positive. For as long as I can remember (and probably eons before that), men have been the aggressors in society—they’re the ones who are “supposed to get things done.” Men put food on the table, women cook it for them. Ugh. A hideous thought that makes me cringe, but it’s out there nonetheless.
Meanwhile, women have been trained to be the passive figures among the sexes. A lot of them are trying to break away from those stereotypes (God bless you all…), but the overlying idea remains the same: they aren’t given the same level of responsibility or expectations, regardless of their capacities.
Now transfer that into a limited environment. Say, seven pairs of people partnered up, one hot and dim guy with one nice and smart girl. Imagine what they’d all be doing inside the mansion: the guys would be bragging about their old football exploits in college while the girls take the time to really get to know each other. The girls would cooperate with the others when learning a task, whereas the guys would be butting heads the whole time. “I don’t need to worry about this shit—I’m gonna go tan by the pool and get pissed at my partner when she doesn’t win and keep us safe from elimination.”
I’m thinking about switching the genders for a couple of the challenges we went through and they don’t look pretty. During the fashion show, Caitilin was putting on the clothes that Chuck bought her and told the others, “Don’t say anything—I don’t want his feelings to get hurt.” Now put guys in that dressing room.
A: “I can’t believe she bought me this shit.”
B: “And now you gotta wear it in front of fashion designers!
C: “It’ll ruin your reputation as a model!”
D: “This is gonna be so funny!”
A: “Shut the fuck up!”
A huge fight ensues and the remainder of the fashion show features most of the hot guys with open wounds on their faces and knuckles.
The geeky women get a makeover, which I would personally love to see. Not because they’d be attractive-looking, but because they could look in the mirror and see themselves as attractive-looking. Perhaps they’d be like Chuck and feel kinda like a fraud—truthfully, so did I—but it’s still a strange feeling to suddenly blend in and catch the eyes of people who looked you over the day before. (Or perhaps you only thought they’d looked you over, but the feeling remains the same.)
But then what happens? The guys were supposed to show off their “inner stud” (another hideous thought that makes me cringe) and get as many phone numbers as possible. You guys already know how I felt about the challenge, but what would women do in the same situation? If they tried going around and asking for guys’ phone numbers, people would freak. Women are supposed to be the ones at the bar looking attractive while random guys are supposed to walk up to get her number instead. Sitting back and waiting for someone to approach isn’t exactly a confidence-building exercise, is it?
Perhaps there are more ingenious producers out there who could make a reversed-gender Beauty and the Geek work, but at this point, it’s beyond me. It’s not just an issue of finding people who fit the stereotypes and putting them all together in a big house with a hot tub. They need to find challenges that will stretch the contestants’ comfort zones, areas in which they aren’t familiar and have to take risks in order to win. Most importantly, they need to find a way for all of the people to interact. Having the geeky girls hanging out and getting along with one another won’t carry the show very far—you’ll still need hot guys who won’t be bumping their chests together or be at each other’s throats. You’ll need to find hot guys… who aren’t assholes.
