Getting Girls Into Tech
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| Author | Content |
|---|---|
| ColonelPanik Feb 20, 2009 11:56 AM EDT |
TC: Perfect! The Western World is not really "raising" children anymore. Kids just happen, live with the family for 18 years and then wash, rinse, repeat. All kids need to learn autonomy! To be able to take care of them selves. With the confidence that brings more girls will reach higher, do more. It is needed. Or maybe it just all about clothes and hair styles? |
| tuxchick Feb 20, 2009 2:03 PM EDT |
Thanks colonel. Most kids want to be competent and know how to do things. It seems the deck is stacked against a lot of them actually becoming competent adults. Just older. A lot of boys are still subject to stale old stupid stereotyping as well, maybe worse than girls. The worst insult is "you're acting like a girl," and 'being a man' is translates to being a self-centered jerk. Lord help any boy who tries to buck the macho crud and be himself-- he'll probably get beat up a lot by the self-appointed Defenders of Macho. |
| techiem2 Feb 20, 2009 2:25 PM EDT |
Yup.
Anymore it seems (to me anyway - keep in mind that I'm one of the younger critters here. :P - and I work at a small business college) it's basically: 1. Have a kid. 2. Make sure that kid thinks they are the center of the universe and doesn't have any responsibilties other than to just "be a kid". Their education doesn't really matter since the schools will just shove them through anyway (all the time telling them that their lack of learning isn't their fault because they have disorders X, Y, Z, Q). 3. Shove the kid into what you think are "appropriate" (i.e. sports, music, drama, whatever) activities when they hit high school, but at the same time keep telling them not to worry about the future, to just have fun when they are young, any problems they have aren't their own fault, etc. 4. Suddenly tell kid they need to be responsible and a productive member of society when they graduate high school (but of course the fact that they still can't count to 10 isn't their fault). At which point the kid A. Goes to big uni with lots of loans (and probably has some minimal job as well), or with $$$ from rich parents. B. Goes to small college with loans (and probably has some minimal job as well) or $$ from parents. C. Goes to work in low-end-paying retail/fast food/etc. Obviously I'm no expert on the matter. I was fortunate enough to have good schooling and parents that actually cared about my eduction and future (and still do). But that's what our society looks to be doing these days to me. It's scary to work in a small business college and see high school graduates come in with no understanding of basic math/English/etc. |
| bigg Feb 20, 2009 2:32 PM EDT |
I would add, though, that boys and girls are definitely different. My wife had ideas about being "gender neutral". She showed my son how to lovingly care for a doll. After initially being scared he figured out that it works well as a baseball bat if you hold it by the hair. He rejects outright anything that you wouldn't think of as being "for boys". He takes things apart just to see what's inside them. He's obsessed with heavy machinery and tools. We've gotten several toys from "gender neutral experiments" with girls. They play with their ovens and dolls and such but don't touch the boy toys. That's not to disagree with the point that stereotypes do exist, and it is stupid when parents try to force things onto their kids, but I don't see that as a full explanation. Another problem is that most technology, science, math, etc. is designed by and for men. The Wii is a perfect example. My wife is the one that bought the Wii in our house, and she plays it all the time. A Playstation or Xbox is of no interest to her. Women are different, but just because they don't like technology designed for men, that doesn't mean they are not interested in technology. |
| tuxchick Feb 20, 2009 2:51 PM EDT |
True, bigg. I don't think the term 'gender neutral' is useful, because kids are individuals with their own likes and aptitudes. I'm the tomboy of the family (and I can attest that Barbies make great guns as well as bats, and it is more fun to dismember them than dress them) while my sisters are traditional frilly girls who like to dress up and use makeup and do their hair, and all those dumb girly timewasters that I think are stupid :). But they are also very bright and with a lot of different talents, and they suffer from the typical brainwashing that girls are supposed to hide their abilities and brains or they won't catch men, so they don't value their own talents. It's something we've all invested a lot of energy into overcoming, and as we all creak into middle age we're making progress. But dang it's hard. |
| Scott_Ruecker Feb 20, 2009 3:04 PM EDT |
By the way, I am in the Kennedy Room awaiting the first talk of the day at WIOS (Women In Open Source) events at SCaLE 7x. Cathy Malmrose is giving a talk entitled, "The Iron-Jawed Angels of Open Source" that is starting now... |
| Steven_Rosenber Feb 20, 2009 3:08 PM EDT |
I hope to talk with Cathy tomorrow at the show. I can't get down there today, but I'd like to do an interview with Cathy and/or Earl of ZaReason. |
| ColonelPanik Feb 20, 2009 3:27 PM EDT |
Scott, Steve: Tech event, tech reporting, posting on a tech blog? Where is my video? |
| Scott_Ruecker Feb 20, 2009 3:30 PM EDT |
Its called a shoestring..budget..;-) |
| ColonelPanik Feb 20, 2009 3:33 PM EDT |
Girl gEEks, hell yes: http://www.socallinuxexpo.org/blog/ |
| tracyanne Feb 20, 2009 4:39 PM EDT |
I can identify with that Carla. I hope I provide a sufficienly strong role model for one or two girls of my acquaintance. I have them using Linux, so maybe that's a start. |
| Scott_Ruecker Feb 20, 2009 5:19 PM EDT |
I am going to Stormy Peters talk in a few minutes, Dur Lavigne's and Rikki Kite's as well.. I'm here ALL Day..;-) |
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