This week was actually a really good week… the kind where things clicked, projects moved, and I remembered why I love my job. But, in a couple of interactions, something very familiar popped up again. You know the look… not unkind, just… a little puzzled… a little “oh, she’s cute” rather than “oh, she’s clearly the professor on the board”.
It is that moment when people judge the outward “cute” before they even consider the CV, the expertise, the work, or the fact I routinely handle things that would make most people run for a quiet corner and a biscuit. I do genuinely think it is because the way I present does not match the old stereotype of what a professor “should” look like. I have been very clear I am not masking just to make everyone else comfortable… it is exhausting and frankly painful. I really do feel a responsibility now …. as an actual, fully grown professor …. to show younger girls and neurodiverse women that you do not have to squeeze yourself into a boring “beige” mould to succeed.
- Being quirky should not hold you back.
- Being unapologetically you should not hold you back.
- …. Being cute definitely should not hold you back!!!
This brings me on to the fact everyone knows I love Disney …. yet, whenever I say Zootropolis is my favourite Disney film, people always say “oh we thought you’d pick a classic”… but Judy Hopps is basically my emotional biography. Her determination, her heart, her fight to be taken seriously, the way people kept telling her no or gently nudging her towards something “more suitable”… and the way she just kept going anyway…. Fierce, Hopeful, Smart, A little chaotic, Cute on the outside… unstoppable on the inside.
It is not always the cute one who becomes the hero. Sometimes the cute one ends up being the villain. Sometimes the cute one is the underdog. Sometimes the cute one is the massive plot twist you never see coming. But the pattern is the same… you never see them coming. Honestly, the more of us who show up unapologetically like this …. cute, quirky, autistic, bright-haired, full-hearted …. the more the world will eventually get used to it…. Maybe …. Hopefully. Judy is pushing for that world… and so am I.
Anyway…
Let me now present my formal argument for why underestimating the cute one is always a bad decision. I will be using a table … because everyone knows what a fan I am of tables!!!
SPOILERS below: Apologies, these aren’t new movies (except for Zootropolis 2), so hopefully anyone reading this already knows who is the hero / who is the villain … if not …. look to the cute ones!
| Character | Film(s) | Role | What no one sees coming .. |
| Judy Hopps | Zootropolis Zootropolis 2 | Hero | Everyone assumes a tiny, cute bunny cannot be a police officer. She ends up solving two of the biggest criminal cases in the city and becomes the best officer they have. |
| Dawn Bellwether | Zootropolis Zootropolis 2 | Villain | She looks like a gentle, bumbling sheep who organises files. No one realises she is orchestrating an entire conspiracy while people talk over her. |
| Granny Puckett | Hoodwinked | Hero | She appears to be a cosy grandmother who might offer you cake. She secretly competes in extreme sports and outmanoeuvres a literal wolf. |
| Boingo | Hoodwinked | Villain | He looks like a tiny, innocent bunny who should be selling Easter chocolates. He turns out to be the criminal mastermind behind the whole Goodie Bandit plot. |
| Snowball | The Secret Life of Pets | Initially villain, later hero | He looks like a small, fluffy bunny who belongs in a gift shop. He is actually the high-energy leader of an underground rebellion with alarming enthusiasm. |
| Gidget | The Secret Life of Pets | Hero | People see a decorative little fluffball. She switches into fearless rescue-mode when her friends need help and surprises everyone. |
| Po | Kung Fu Panda series | Hero | Everybody thinks he is clumsy, unfocused and obsessed with dumplings. He becomes the Dragon Warrior and defeats masters who trained their entire lives. |
| The Minions | Despicable Me series | Heroes | They look like squishy yellow toys. They end up running huge operations, inventing technology and occasionally nearly taking over the world without meaning to. |
| Pooh and Friends | Winnie the Pooh series | Heroes | The whole group looks soft and harmless. They solve problems through kindness, bravery, noticing details and teamwork, which keeps saving the day. |
We have looked at some classic film examples where underestimating the cute one goes spectacularly wrong. It is practically its own category in cinema now. Bunny looks harmless… bunny runs an entire crime syndicate. Panda looks clumsy… panda becomes the Dragon Warrior. Sheep looks like she files paperwork… sheep is actually the mastermind. There are loads more in non animated films too, but that is not the point. The point is the pattern. People judge the surface before the substance. They see cute or quirky or quiet or young or autistic and their brains go oh ok probably not very serious. Meanwhile the entire plot twist is revving its engines in the background.
I am less bothered when it happens to me these days. I have the role. I have the CV. I have the receipts to back myself. People underestimate me and then eventually they realise oh… she actually does this stuff for real… whoops. What bothers me is watching what it does to early career researchers. To autistic students. To girls at outreach events who already think they have to shrink themselves to fit someone else’s idea of respectable. It breaks my heart every time. Because you should be allowed to be you… fully you… loudly you… cute and clever and chaotic and brilliant all at once.
It is no secret that before I found Southampton, I was made to feel very tiny for showing any part of myself. Tiny for being bright. Tiny for being quirky. Tiny for not pretending to be someone else. Now I am finally comfortable in my own skin… and honestly if you do not like it, that is fine. Not everybody likes each other and not everybody is meant to work together. I am not hurting anybody… at least not intentionally… so I am not going to change or mask or fold myself in half to make someone else relaxed. Because doing that absolutely hurts me.
So after all these examples… all these bunnies and pandas and marshmallows who turned out to be the real force in the story… I have one final message.
Never underestimate the cute one… you will lose every time.