Do you ladies ever feel like you have to put your beauty above your brains so to speak? I just noticed from reading a lot of the MTF threads that as there's such a huge focal point on looking beautiful, does it not really leave time for anything else?
I'm not saying that you're not clever women, I'm just curious to know whether you feel it is as important to you to project your intelligence personally?
I know a lot cis-females who are incredibly intelligent but feel like they don't need or want to express it openly, just wondered if it was the same story.

Style and fashion are just more fun to talk about.... I mean i could write long posts on why strongly typed object oriented languages really are better for programers in the long run or why we should spend more money on stirling engine research... But things lile that are more or less not of public intrest.

Sure I can go to my Linux forum and they love discussions of programming languages, but here there's not really any common thing except gender issues, and things that are common to all people. Fashion, health, fitness, jobs. pets, etc are really the most common things here because most of us can relate to them, but if you poke around a bit you will find that susans is a very diverse community.

So TL;DR: there is always time for fashion and everything else.

I am training in the medical field, veterinary medicine.  I feel that I am just as intelligent as my classmates.  But I also like to look pretty for me, not anyone else.

Yes, I visit beauty sites and practice my skill, but that is not the be all in my life.

The only reason I started to keep my intelligence in check is for social reasons... simply, over the years, I have learnt that no one likes a know it all (even if you are right).

So, I have just learnt where the right place for being smart is.

I have actually been dealing with this all my life. I have tried acting different ways around different people. Or, online making different profiles and persona's... and watched how people react to me.

As a general rule, the smarter I behave... the less popular / liked I am. The most popular seems to be very energetic and joking. And the least popular seems to be completely intellectual.

So, if I want someone to like me... I will tone it down a lot. I will just act dumb and funny and not want to discuss anything serious and just be "fun".

If I want someone to respect me though, I will show it off (but not too much! People need to be handled... telling them the answer isn't always what they want. Sometimes you need to help just guide them to the correct answer, instead of simply correcting them).

This doesn't really factor into gender for me.

I thought it did factor into gender quite highly actually, but that's probably just my opinion.
Again I'd like to stress that I'm not saying there is a different in actual intelligence between males and females, but in how it is valued as a requirement.
Anyway, thanks for the enlightening replies.

The only times I try to hide what little intelligence I possess is when I think someone has an intention of taking advantage of me being halfway smart about some things along with being someone who finds it hard to say no to anyone.

Often want to drop what I am doing and beautify myself kind of like Jane Krakowski in 30rock. Haha but I do have to study like everyone else.

I don't try to display my intelligence or act like the-holder-of-all-esoteric-and-great-knowledge because I don't wanna come off as insufferable and annoying to everyone I meet 

The way I mean that is like, for example... if someone says something that is obviously wrong or really inaccurate I don't correct them because who cares. It gets to be really petty. Some people get all caught in projecting an image of intelligence and I think that's silly. Plus, it's not something to be proud of just because your dice roll put you high on the bell curve.

I put my beauty on equal footing. Both beauty and brains reflect upon who I am and I would very much disagree with the notion that beauty is vapid and frivolous. Aspiring to greater beauty is as much and as valid a part of the human experience as aspiring to greater intellect.

I value my intelligence, and am proud of it. Of course... whether or not I'm actually intelligent is an opinion, and open for debate, but I like to think I am. I don't see it as anything to hide.

Then again I'm non-op, closeted, and male-bodied, so my opinion might not exactly be wanted here.

 Well, I don't always express it because, back in guymode... I was often called a douchebag because I used big words.

It doesn't have much to do with physical beauty for me; the two exist side-by-side. My intelligence is extremely valuable to me. However, I have realized that it is difficult to say my piece these days... and what I have to say has become less valuable.

And that's just a male-privilege thing.

Quote from: Kelly J. P. on April 09, 2012, 03:26:19 AM
Well, I don't always express it because, back in guymode... I was often called a douchebag because I used big words.

It doesn't have much to do with physical beauty for me; the two exist side-by-side. My intelligence is extremely valuable to me. However, I have realized that it is difficult to say my piece these days... and what I have to say has become less valuable.

And that's just a male-privilege thing.

I still use big words and have the mouth of a salior hehe but I know when to be polite

Being older it's probably not as big an issue.  Seeing as I am a Uni student now I guess it is expected anyway.
I like to be elegantly well groomed, it's a personal trait, without going overboard.  Going for the '60's Hot Librarian' look means I can have both anyway. 

I could also talk about how I want to be a veterinarian because I love working with children, Or how my favorite color is clear, But these days I just shut up unless input is actually needed on something. Guys at work tend to ignore me now anyway so I don't feel a need to go out of my way to be helpful to them. I'll just sit back and let them figure it out.

Besides, I learned a long time ago you dont show your full deck to everyone. Engineers where I work know I can come up with great solutions to problems. I just don't work in that department.