Aoki Lee Simmons is setting the record straight and shutting down the age-old stereotype that a person cannot possess both beauty and brains.
She recently uploaded a TikTok that was centered around addressing a question left by a viewer, which read, “You’re so articulate and obviously educated .. how come u chose modeling?”
“I think what you’re really getting at is, ‘Why am I going into a field that doesn’t necessarily require a degree or require a whole lot of book smarts when I have a lot of education?'” Simmons began, immediately getting to the heart of the comment.
“I love it, and I think we should normalize liking something. You don’t have to do what you’re immediately good at,” the 19-year-old said. “You can be good at something and not want to do it forever, and you can be bad at something and still pursue it.”
Upon answering the question, Simmons focused on a more significant issue within the comment.
“I really want us to move towards a future where young women aren’t being asked this question. Like, not being asked, ‘Why did you follow your more creative passion even though you’re smart?'”
“I would like to change the idea that you can’t be smart and pretty, or you can’t be smart and enjoy your looks or enjoy a creative, beauty- [and] fashion-based career,” she continued. “You can be two kinds of people in one person.”
Simmons then wrapped up her video by leaving viewers with a warm word of encouragement.
“Do whatever you want. Get a degree, don’t use it. Get a degree, use it later. Don’t get a degree; never use it. Get a degree later. Don’t get one — do whatever you want to do! And nothing is a waste of your talent,” she said.
@aokileesimmons Replying to @kthadon4 ♬ original sound – Aokileesimmons 🇫🇷🇰🇷🇯🇵
Kimora Lee Simmons shared that her younger daughter was accepted to Harvard in the spring of 2019 when Aoki was only 16 years old.
The young scholar began attending the Ivy League institution that fall, though Simmons was still determined to follow in her mother’s footsteps and take over the modeling world.
By July 2021, she was heading to Paris to walk in her first-ever couture show, which her mother documented on Instagram.
View this post on Instagram
It’s also worth noting that the Harvard student recently showed off her passion for fashion and modeling while giving her TikTok fans a look at one of her internship outfits, proceeding to call herself the “Best dressed person at the UN.”
@aokileesimmonsBest dressed person at the UN and id put money on that claim 😭🤷🏽♀️♬ Betty (Get Money) – Yung Gravy
In a similar upload, Simmons wrote, “My time has come to choose between politics and modeling because I cannot keep up this Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus double life.”
@aokileesimmons Definitley feel a stress injury coming on 😂♥️#model #politics #politicalintern ♬ Betty (Get Money) – Yung Gravy
Shoutout to Aoki Lee Simmons for doing her thing and encouraging others to do the same!
