Feminine math and science role models do not motivate girls

blazedaces · 2012-05-02T02:51:40+00:00

The opinion I'm about to state is entirely based on my personal experience. I recently graduated from university with a degree in electrical engineering. My opinion, which seems to be supported by this article, is that image/fashion/beauty is much, much more important to most women than most men. And this is the major reason why women are not, and perhaps will never amongst the majority be attracted towards STEM career paths.

Think about the image or idea of an engineer or scientist, male or female. The typical image in our society (whether or not it's an accurate depiction of reality) is a nerdy guy/girl in glasses who is book smart, but certainly not "street smart". This person is rarely attractive and almost always has serious communication issues.

The women in the engineering programs tended, compared to my experience with most women, to not put as much makeup on, not care as much about what they wore, and just generally not be as obsessed about how they looked. I'd like to note that I absolutely love and wish more women were like this. I generally think our society could benefit from a little less obsession over how we look, but it's just wishful thinking. Anyway, I'm digressing.

Back to the topic at hand, I really don't see this changing. And that is exactly why even as more women enter the workforce men are still significantly more prominent in these fields. Notice I'm not insinuating men/women are better at these or the other fields they are a majority in... I believe it's simply a result of societal pressure.

So when I hear people asking the question of what can be done to improve upon the image of a scientist or engineer, my answer is there's no point. As this article points out, having more female role models in these fields turns women away, because even with more of them in the spotlight, the idea is still to most women, simply not attractive enough.

myblockcheck · 2012-05-01T19:36:38+00:00

So.. one of the main reasons women are underrepresented in STEM fields is because of women themselves and NOT men?

Another feminist rhetorical device defeated.

me2x · 2012-05-01T23:07:42+00:00

I'm actually confused about this post. It seems like it supports feminism more than MR. If women are disliked, labeled as less attractive, not competent or unable to secure high salaries when they excel at a career, isn't that a type of opression? Especially since women said they didn't want to go into this field because they felt they couldn't excel at math and be feminine at the same time. I'm definitely not blaming men here, but it does seem that this post points to more women's rights issues than men's.

Title	Feminine math and science role models do not motivate girls
Author	MYGODWHATHAVEIDONE
Upvotes	10
Comments	5
Date	May 1, 2012 5:55 PM UTC (14 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/MensRights
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/MensRights/comments/t1sy4/feminine_math_and_science_role_models_do_not/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/MensRights/feminine-math-and-science-role-models-do-not.1022768 https://theredarchive.com/post/1022768

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