Thread by @DocumentWomen

Why is the compliment “Beauty and Brains” considered sexist?🤔

A thread🧵

RT for others

You probably must have gotten this reaction or a similar one after calling a lady "beauty with brains".

Here are 5 reasons that line isn't a compliment.

1. Beauty with Brains: "You can be beautiful. You can be smart, but not both."

That line presents that for a woman to be both, she has to be so mind-blowing and EXTRA.

2. A lot of women are smart. A lot of women look good, but the problem here is women are mostly reduced to being defined by their bodies and for a woman to be both beautiful and smart, she has to meet a standard set by men🤷🏽‍♀️

3. Shame Culture: If we’re being honest, we live in an “anything-to-shame-the-woman” society and sometimes that can present as “lifting” one woman to shame the others.

4. A lot of women take this comment to mean, “you’re different, you’re not like the rest of them”. B5ut, the truth is, beauty and brains alone are not enough to make you the exception and frankly not enough to buy your silence against retail sexism.

5. As if the patriarchy does not undermine the individuality and right to self-determination of women enough, your community decides on your behalf what your identity is and then they hold you to the ridiculous standards 🤷🏽‍♀️

Read more on this👇🏽
documentwomen.com/why-the-compli…