Most scientists- especially the famous ones- tend to be cleancut, nerdy, super left-wing on every possible policy, and, to be entirely honest, socially-inept. I understand why that is pretty well.
Many universities and pretty much every scientific conference requires some sort of professional dresscode, and scientists are people who’ve dedicated their whole lives to studying a niche, relatively-unknown aspect of nature regardless of its usefulness in society.
When I toured Lockheed Martin, every single scientist I met there was your stereotypical, Ivory-tower nerd. At university, pretty much all of my professors have fit that same bill: nerdy, a bit out-of-touch, and a little arrogant.
Hell, I kind of fit that stereotype myself. I’m scrawny, wear big glasses, use big words, am diagnosed autistic, and I’m socially challenged in more than a few ways.
There are very few things that separate me from being a fully-fledged, walking stereotype of a scientist. But those few aspects of me are why I’m so loved by people who would otherwise sneer at a nerdy freak like me.
What are those few aspects of me that separate me from the rest?
Most of those aspects are superficial- things that cause people to make snap judgements about me.
I fit in so well in rural Minnesota because I look and sound like everyone else. There’s nothing outward about me that screams to everyone else, “I’m different and new!” To everyone who sees me, I’m just another farmer’s daughter. Boring. Unexceptional. Definitely not a threat.
But if I were to dye my hair and spend a bunch of money on piercings and tattoos, the bar would’ve fallen silent and turned to stare me down the second I stepped inside. Why? Because what on God’s green earth is a city-born libtard doing in the middle of nowhere on a Friday night? That doesn’t just happen, generally speaking.
Conversely, if I were to dye my hair and decorate my face with piercings, I’d fit in perfectly on my university campus. Why? Because lots of people do that. I could’ve also gone the less extreme route, and just traded in my jeans and hoodies for khakis and sweaters, and still achieve the same goal as looking like every other student on campus.
By going to class every day dressed like my redneck relatives, I’m basically walking into a rural bar with a bright pink mohawk.
Until people get to know me, there’s a decent chance they’ll be wary of me. Perhaps even outright fearful of me, because of their preconceived notions regarding what generally people are like who dress in square-toed boots and baseball caps.
But I do it anyway, knowing damn well what it is I’m doing.
