Gorgeous George's fiancee shows brains as well as beauty are a big part of the package

It was bound to happen some time. We knew it, even if we barely dared to whisper it.

Yes ladies, the dust may have settled, but many of us are still struggling to comprehend that George Clooney is finally off the market. I say ‘off the market’, as though he was ever ON the market for the likes of a little Norfolk bumpkin like me...

Actually, I wasn’t sure at one point whether George was on the market for any woman – I had, I confess, written George off as – erm – not exactly a lady-lover.

There’s a rumour floating around Hollywood that one of its most dashing leading men is in fact gay, though quite why that fact still has to be kept a secret in the 21st century is beyond me. Anyway, my smart money was on Clooney, simply because I couldn’t think who was more handsome, more dashing and most likely to break the greatest number of female hearts if the rumour were true. He seemed, quite simply, too good to be true.

But alas, it turns out Georgie-baby was available all this time. To think – if only I’d known… However, I have to say that his choice of lady hasn’t left me quite as outraged as I’d anticipated. After all, his fiancée, Amal Alamuddin, is smart, educated, and she’s even fighting the good fight as a human rights lawyer. Damn. George went for brains. Ok, ok, I’m sure the fact that she’s a rather stunning human rights lawyer didn’t escaped his attention

Oxford Mail:

Clooney's fiancee Amal Alamuddin

No matter: George’s choice of wife has inadvertently sent an encouraging message to young females everywhere. It’s the message that it’s actually (whisper it) cool and sexy to be smart. Who knew? The message reads that most men – or at least the ones worth bagging – are interested in personality, and intelligence as much as they’re interested in beauty. Or nearly as much. But intelligence and personality are up there.

This is definitely knowledge that by now should be instilled in us. However, I spent a large portion of my teenage years thinking that women were essentially worth the extent to which a man desired them. It’s an embarrassing truth to admit to – but it’s the truth, nevertheless. I knew on an intellectual level that women were valued by character and intelligence too – of course I did. I’d watched Pretty Woman, after all, which – once you get past the ‘pretty woman’ bit, actually does (albeit in a slightly skewed way) place emphasis on how much the rich man appreciates the prostitute’s bubbly personality and quick wit at least as much as he appreciates her never-ending legs. Sort of. But knowing a fact – knowing the fairytale, as Vivienne in Pretty Woman puts it – is quite different from the feelings we have about ourselves.

The feelings can be so easily compounded at the fragile age of 18 by walking into a bar and having your butt or your boobs or your long, sweeping hair be the thing that the guys in the bar focus on. I’m not gonna lie – that feels good. Of course it does: we’re creatures whose chances of procreation are greatly enhanced by our attractiveness to members of the opposite sex.

But we need, more than ever, to show young women that they can be as superficially attractive as they like, but if they can’t hold a halfway decent conversation, or if they don’t have opinions or views or any notable intelligence, that can detract from everything else. Or at least not bag George Clooney and his kind. And that’s enough to send anyone back to school…