"Isn't Being Smart Enough?" Felicia Day Discusses the Pressure on Women to Be Beautiful

Felicia Day, by definition, is amazing — she's startlingly impressive. She graduated college at 19, having studied music performance and mathematics. (She was also in the top four percent of her class.) She is an accomplished violinist. She had a recurring role on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and played Charlie Bradbury in three seasons of beloved TV series Supernatural.

You thought I was finished? As the writer, creator, and star of her former web series, The Guild, she won multiple awards, including the Greenlight Award for best original digital series production at South by Southwest festival and Streamys for best web comedy series and best female actor in a web comedy series, the latter of which she won at the very first Streamy Awards! Did I mention she'd also a New York Times bestseller?

So I'm not exaggerating by saying she is amazing. I know people throw that word around when they're at a loss for other words, like judges on reality competition shows and when having to sit through an excruciating phone call that you wish would end immediately. Clearly, she is a force to be reckoned with. She's a crusader for women in the gaming world, speaking up during last year's terrifying Gamergate, in which women in the gaming world were unjustly harrassed and stalked for simply being women in the industry.

With all of this under her belt, I was extremely nervous to have her on the show. Mostly because I'm a fan of her work, but also because I don't know much about gaming. But I wanted this woman to think I'm cool — because she is the coolest. And you know what? I don't know why I was so nervous. Felicia was not only witty — I was laughing out loud through the interview (you should see the bloopers) — but she also showed up and proclaimed that she, too, has insecurities, just like every other person on the planet. The difference is that Felicia conveys these moments of weakness in such an inspirational manner that you don't even realize that she's insecure about anything until she literally says, "I am not the most confident about ________."

We tackled a lot in this interview: Embracing your weirdness, for one. She wrote an entire book devoted to this topic! Also, why people feel compelled to comment on unimportant things like looks when you have more to offer. In this case, it was her creative work that people should have been paying attention to, but instead they felt the need to comment on a haircut. "It was interesting to me that (the haircut) got so much controversy, and the things that I do that are creative and artistic don't get as much 'jump' on the internet," said Felicia. "It would be better if people gave as much encouragement and feedback to things that you accomplished with your creativity and your brain."

She also stressed the importance of not investing so much into what you look like and if everyone likes you. "I think that likeability and attractiveness, the world tells us that (women) need those things to succeed. And those are the things that are not the best to invest in," said Felicia. "Attractiveness goes away at some point, and if you want someone to like you, you'll change who you are so they'll like you. That's really giving other people the power over your self-esteem."

Check out the full episode of #PrettyUnfiltered with Felicia to hear the advice she's given herself at her most insecure point and her thoughts on the upsetting trends in the gaming industry. Now don't mind me — I'll be eating a scone and drinking a cosmo in Felicia's honor.

On Kirbie: Denim & Supply Ralph Lauren dress.