The Importance of Having Smart Role Models in the New Age of Anti-Intellectualism
By Debra Murray
“Who cares if I’m pretty if I fail my finals?” Rory Gilmore says to her mother, Lorelai, after a sleepless night of studying.
It’s been almost 20 years since Rory Gilmore graced our screens on Gilmore Girls. Few female characters today replicate what she meant to a generation of young women. While Rory could get distracted by boys, as most teenagers do, she never lost sight of her dream: going to Harvard and becoming a journalist. Even though she ultimately went to Yale, I adored watching her pursue her goals (and sometimes fail) in a more mature setting.
Image Sourced through Pinterest
Growing up, I looked up to characters like Rory Gilmore, Elle Woods, and Hermione Granger. What these characters have in common is that they are each smart, goal-oriented women.
These women made me want to take school seriously, and watching them served as a reminder of what I could achieve by working hard. On TikTok, creators continue to celebrate Rory’s dedication to her studies and her desire to be an “academic weapon,” recreating her day in the life and more.
Another “academic weapon” is Elle Woods from Legally Blonde, a character who manages to surprise everyone who underestimated her capacity to practice law. The movie begins with Elle deciding to go to Harvard Law to win back her ex-boyfriend, Warner, but by the end, she discovers her passion for helping people through the legal system.
We see Elle remain this bright, bubbly individual while also showing she is far more intelligent than people give her credit for, finding ways to surprise them throughout the movie.
Image Sourced through Pinterest
The third wave of feminism occurred in the 1990s, building off the previous two movements and embracing diversity and individuality. The fourth wave is the current wave of feminism, which began in 2012, focusing on intersectionality and the empowerment of women online.
Young women need to have intelligent role models in mainstream media. It’s easy to forget how many women fought for access to education and equality in the classroom.
Anti-intellectualism is a distrust, disdain, or hostility toward people considered intellectuals and the pursuit of academic or scientific knowledge, and it appears on many different levels. Right now, college enrollment is expected to continue declining, with no indication of it climbing anytime soon. This also impacts the budgets of universities and colleges, as enrollment tends to influence state funding. The number of 18-year-old high school graduates will peak in 2025 at around 3.9 million, according to the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education report. By 2041, the number of traditional-age incoming college students will be down 13 percent.
In addition to fewer students attending college, there is a higher acceptance of misinformation, especially with the more consistent use of AI.
Some see anti-intellectualism as a counterbalance to elitism, especially in academia, but I find it counterproductive. While privileged people will continue to receive a quality education, the only real way to level the playing field is to create opportunities for people who are not privileged in these environments. Your education can never be taken away from you.
Image Sourced through Pinterest
Historically, anti-intellectualism has been used to push unified ideas without argument and uphold the status quo. Examples of this are seen in Nazi Germany, as the Nazis believed that intellectual pursuits threatened their totalitarian ideas. Today, modern politicians are waging their own battles with intellectualism. The Trump administration created an executive order to close the Department of Education. This effort aimed to return powers over education to individual states, but would ultimately lead to certain states falling behind in standardized testing and learning milestones.
The only way to combat anti-intellectualism is to continue to educate yourself, challenge yourself, and encourage others to think critically.
As I write this, a “Reading is Sexy” t-shirt hangs in my closet, and my fridge has magnets with quotes from Legally Blonde. I can only hope that younger women today are finding inspiring role models to look up to.
