Even in 2018, we have a painfully stereotypical view of people in certain professions. We assume that all accountants are boring, that all actors are minted (something recently disproven by Geoffrey Owens), and, of course, we have this misguided view that anyone in the modelling industry must be - how do I put this gently? - not particularly intelligent.
But that simply isn't true.
There is no rule to life that people can be either intelligent or beautiful, but, for some reason, many believe that this is the case.
So, when Lindsey Scott, a Victoria's Secret model, posted on social media about her one of her non-modelling achievements, some people weighed in to share their disbelief.
You see, aside from being a model, Scott is also a software engineer. And she has a Bachelor’s Degree in computer science and theatre. And she can code in five (!) different languages.
Instagram account @coding.engineer heard about Scott, and decided that her accolades were worth shouting about. So they did:
Unfortunately, the comments were pretty insulting, to say the least.
Perhaps it's because she's beautiful, perhaps it's because she's a woman, or perhaps it's because she's a beautiful woman - but something really irked a lot of guys in the comments section.
Rather than sink as low as her critics, however, Scott decided that the best way to prove them wrong would be to simply tell them about her achievements:
"I have 27481 points on StackOverflow; I'm on the iOS tutorial team for RayWendelich.com; I'm the Lead iOS software engineer for @RallyBound, the 841st fastest growing company in the US according to @incmagazine, I have a Bachelor's degree from Amherst where I double majored in computer science and theater, and I'm able to live my life doing everything I love.
"Looking at these comments I wonder why 41% of women in technical careers drop out because of a hostile work environment #gofigure"
And other, more supportive commenters took the opportunity to educate those who thought that women couldn't be software engineers.
"Women can be smart, beautiful, powerful and confident and on a journey to fulfil their dreams and potential! All of this in the same time," wrote one person. "Get over it!"
Meanwhile, another replied to a particularly insulting comment with:
"She’s allowed to brag as much as she wants considering people like you try to bring her down. NOTHING about this woman is wasted, other than the 5 minutes she might have wasted reading your dumb ass comments. Don’t try to spin it as if you were being philosophical and trying to see someone’s interpretation - words have meanings for a reason. The only thing that’s a waste here is you being a stereotypical trash male assuming women aren’t good for anything other than their looks."
"You are a true inspiration," said a third person. "More than half these haters would fail under the pressure of your accomplishments! I'm gonna start questioning every man to prove his credentials just like the do to us!"
Oh, and it might be worth pointing out to a lot of guys in this thread that the first ever coder was a woman.
Well done, Lindsey Scott, for pursuing all of your passions, and not putting yourself in a box as some shallow-minded folks might have preferred you did. You're an inspiration to us all!