Lately I’ve been thinking about the general image of librarians in society. I suppose, however, I should say the images of librarians. There’s the stuffy, uptight, bun-wearing, finger-shushing hag on one hand, and then there’s the sexy, uninhibited, provocative Playboy-centerfold disciplinarian on the other.
Quite an interesting two-sided coin, isn’t it?
Much as I hate to confirm any generalizations, in a lot of ways I realize that I fit in nicely with at least some form of the traditional librarian image. I’m a mousy brunette, I wear glasses, I tend to correct other people’s grammar, and I read constantly. If you throw in the part about being the wife of a (soon-to-be) pastor, then that pretty much seals my fate as far as first impressions go.
Even so, I like to play with (and play off) that stereotype. Self-parody can be fun, and I can think of far worse professions for stereotypes. Lawyers, for example. Or DMV employees. Sexy librarian beats boring accountant any day!
