I do a lot of outreach work to get girls engaged in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). I enjoy my work, and I collaborate with a lot of amazing men and women who are equally committed to this cause. I adore and respect these people. However, there are some fairly prevalent beliefs amongst my cohorts that drive me crazy.
The most common is the belief that girls can't be "girly" and "smart." This is usually perpetuated by WOMEN, not MEN. These women are usually dressed like they just escaped from an FLDS compound. If you don't know what that means, just picture the little girl from Little House on the Prairie if she was 30 years older, her dress was 8 sizes too big and her braids had turned into dreadlocks. Now, before you think I'm hatin', let me just say that I'm cool with these women. They can wear whatever they hell they want. All I care about is that they're brilliant. However, they're usually saying things like, "Girls will absorb whatever we teach them. If we teach girls about make-up, that's what they'll learn. If we teach them about science, they'll learn that instead." (This is almost a word-for-word quote that I heard from someone at a really reputable non-profit that specializes in STEM education.) I'm not sure if it's occurred to these people that girls' brains might be capable of absorbing content related to more than one topic. I mean, seriously. WTF.
Aside from this just being ridiculous and insulting, it also bothers me because I think this is one of the stereotypes that keeps girls out of math, science, and engineering in the first place. There are a lot of smart girls who don't want to go into these fields because a lot of the female "role models" are these women who look like they've taken up residence with the uni-bomber. Some girls see that and can't relate to it, so they think these fields aren't for them. People really need role models they can relate to. You don't have to lose your femininity to be a scientist. I mean, if you want to, that's cool, but you definitely don't have to.
By the way, what is SO horrible about make-up and fashion, anyway? For me, it has always been a huge creative outlet. I like to play with color, light, and texture using make-up and clothing. Sometimes it turns into a huge disaster and sometimes it's awesome, but isn't that kind of what creativity is all about? People in science, technology, engineering and math need creative outlets to be good at what they do. It helps us bring creativity to our work. I don't think anyone should be able to dictate to us what those creative outlets should (or shouldn't) be.
I think some of these women are just being themselves, and I applaud that. However, I suspect that some of them have intentionally downplayed their feminine characteristics in order to better fit into these male dominated fields. That is a really common practice I've seen in my career. Some women "assimilate" to fit in with their male counterparts, and I totally get it. I get tired of being underestimated based on my feminine appearance, but instead of assimilating I just choose to be a huge bitch to anyone who underestimates me. It works pretty well too.
I should say that there are people on the other end of the spectrum that try really hard to integrate things that are stereotypically feminine into STEM education. Like, for example, they organize a robotics workshop and make everything HOT PINK. For the record, I find this equally annoying.
The most common is the belief that girls can't be "girly" and "smart." This is usually perpetuated by WOMEN, not MEN. These women are usually dressed like they just escaped from an FLDS compound. If you don't know what that means, just picture the little girl from Little House on the Prairie if she was 30 years older, her dress was 8 sizes too big and her braids had turned into dreadlocks. Now, before you think I'm hatin', let me just say that I'm cool with these women. They can wear whatever they hell they want. All I care about is that they're brilliant. However, they're usually saying things like, "Girls will absorb whatever we teach them. If we teach girls about make-up, that's what they'll learn. If we teach them about science, they'll learn that instead." (This is almost a word-for-word quote that I heard from someone at a really reputable non-profit that specializes in STEM education.) I'm not sure if it's occurred to these people that girls' brains might be capable of absorbing content related to more than one topic. I mean, seriously. WTF.
Aside from this just being ridiculous and insulting, it also bothers me because I think this is one of the stereotypes that keeps girls out of math, science, and engineering in the first place. There are a lot of smart girls who don't want to go into these fields because a lot of the female "role models" are these women who look like they've taken up residence with the uni-bomber. Some girls see that and can't relate to it, so they think these fields aren't for them. People really need role models they can relate to. You don't have to lose your femininity to be a scientist. I mean, if you want to, that's cool, but you definitely don't have to.
By the way, what is SO horrible about make-up and fashion, anyway? For me, it has always been a huge creative outlet. I like to play with color, light, and texture using make-up and clothing. Sometimes it turns into a huge disaster and sometimes it's awesome, but isn't that kind of what creativity is all about? People in science, technology, engineering and math need creative outlets to be good at what they do. It helps us bring creativity to our work. I don't think anyone should be able to dictate to us what those creative outlets should (or shouldn't) be.
I think some of these women are just being themselves, and I applaud that. However, I suspect that some of them have intentionally downplayed their feminine characteristics in order to better fit into these male dominated fields. That is a really common practice I've seen in my career. Some women "assimilate" to fit in with their male counterparts, and I totally get it. I get tired of being underestimated based on my feminine appearance, but instead of assimilating I just choose to be a huge bitch to anyone who underestimates me. It works pretty well too.
I should say that there are people on the other end of the spectrum that try really hard to integrate things that are stereotypically feminine into STEM education. Like, for example, they organize a robotics workshop and make everything HOT PINK. For the record, I find this equally annoying.
