Lady Lego Pirates or Why My Mom is Awesome(marlenacompton.com)
marlenacompton.com
Lady Lego Pirates or Why My Mom is Awesome
http://marlenacompton.com/?p=3256
18 comments
It makes me sad that this is the interpretation you carried away from my post. I am, for better or worse, not a fan of pink, but aside from taking pot-shots at Barbie, I favor supporting other women in CS.
It's good to hear that you were so encouraging and FWIW, If your friend had been sitting next to me in a CS class, I would have been friendly and said hello or traded notes regardless of the color of her laptop.
Thanks for taking the time to read my post and comment.
It's good to hear that you were so encouraging and FWIW, If your friend had been sitting next to me in a CS class, I would have been friendly and said hello or traded notes regardless of the color of her laptop.
Thanks for taking the time to read my post and comment.
When I hear people say girls don’t stick around in math and science because they are not interested, I’d like to point them to the commercials that play on Saturday morning cartoons or to the faces they see on the boxes in the toy aisles. If you have kids, take a minute to look around the next time you are buying toys. You might find it eye-opening. Although I haven’t seen it, I hear the documentary “Miss Representation” deals with this topic."
Certainly that was true in 1982. But since then we've had many, many, many programs promoting Science for girls.
Searching for "STEM girls programs" on Google gets 23.8 million hits. So I'm curious how many millions of dollars will be spent before the example of the toy aisles (from the eighties) stops getting trotted out.
Some notable examples: Girl Scouts: http://www.girlscouts.org/program/basics/science/
STEM grants for girls: http://stemgrants.com/mini-stem-grants-for-girls/
Techbridge (STEM for girls): http://www.techbridgegirls.org/
Certainly that was true in 1982. But since then we've had many, many, many programs promoting Science for girls.
Searching for "STEM girls programs" on Google gets 23.8 million hits. So I'm curious how many millions of dollars will be spent before the example of the toy aisles (from the eighties) stops getting trotted out.
Some notable examples: Girl Scouts: http://www.girlscouts.org/program/basics/science/
STEM grants for girls: http://stemgrants.com/mini-stem-grants-for-girls/
Techbridge (STEM for girls): http://www.techbridgegirls.org/
Well, when I started as a professional programmer in 1983, I was hired by a woman. A year or two later, my boss, my boss's boss, and her boss were all women (this was in software development at a Fortune 500 computer manufacturing company). My understanding is that today, there are far fewer women in software development than there were in the 1980s. It seems to me that the billions of dollars in toy marketing (and other factors) are beating the millions in "STEM for girls".
Thanks for posting the links to those programs. There's been some real progress in the areas of programming and funding for that kind of thing. I've worked with some of those programs and they're awesome.
I would guess when these numbers are closer to parity. http://www.esa.doc.gov/Reports/women-stem-gender-gap-innovat...
I remember seeing an old ad re-posted on the net, featuring a girl playing with Lego. It's a little reminiscent of Apple, in a way.
Here it is: http://cdn.twentytwowords.com/wp-content/uploads/Awesome-198...
Here it is: http://cdn.twentytwowords.com/wp-content/uploads/Awesome-198...
Are Dads awesome too?
Boys find their Dad awesome, girls find their Mum awesome.
Usually.
Usually.
I'm guessing the initial lack of female pirate LEGO minifigs had something to do with the fact that 99.9999% of actual historical pirates were men. And that pirate ships were not exactly woman-friendly environments. Just a thought. Sounds crazy, I know. :)
Back to the neverending gender persecution fest discussion on the web. That has nothing to do with HN and shouldn't be on HN, please.
ps. I'm personally not happy that every time I go into a haircut shop like GreatClips that all the haircut folks are women. It makes me feel oppressed. I want to see men working there, and have men cutting my hair, so I and my sons have that as a role model. As it is the feminarchy is distorting the perception of the array of actual career choices available to my sons and grandsons. ... Have I made my point?
Back to the neverending gender persecution fest discussion on the web. That has nothing to do with HN and shouldn't be on HN, please.
ps. I'm personally not happy that every time I go into a haircut shop like GreatClips that all the haircut folks are women. It makes me feel oppressed. I want to see men working there, and have men cutting my hair, so I and my sons have that as a role model. As it is the feminarchy is distorting the perception of the array of actual career choices available to my sons and grandsons. ... Have I made my point?
Damn straight. Historical fidelity is of utmost importance in the education of our youth. No daughter of mine will ever be allowed to act like a pirate. Or a knight. Or wear pants.
Sigh... posts like that just make me sad. You honestly think it's a bad thing that Lego is producing (it's not even the PC nonesense you're positing -- they're actually making them!) toys with girls in them?
Sigh... posts like that just make me sad. You honestly think it's a bad thing that Lego is producing (it's not even the PC nonesense you're positing -- they're actually making them!) toys with girls in them?
Firstly, the pirate archetype used in fiction and represented in LEGO form is not one based on history but on fantasy. In truth the vast majority of "pirates" in the, say, 17th through 18th centuries were privateers operating under the authority of a government (for example, Captain Morgan).
Secondly, there are many famous examples of female pirates from history and fiction (Mary Read, Grace O'Malley, Rachel Wall, etc.)
Thirdly, perhaps you should take up your concerns regarding the gender of your hair stylists with the management of GreatClips.
Secondly, there are many famous examples of female pirates from history and fiction (Mary Read, Grace O'Malley, Rachel Wall, etc.)
Thirdly, perhaps you should take up your concerns regarding the gender of your hair stylists with the management of GreatClips.
> Thirdly, perhaps you should take up your concerns regarding the gender of your hair stylists with the management of GreatClips.
No thanks. I'm realistic and don't actually care. It was clearly an illustrative argument and you should have known that. Also, I personally accept the often messy and non-philosophically-perfectly-mathematically-ideal nature of reality when it comes to gender and sexuality. Unlike a lot of people when it comes to these kinds of topics on the Internet. For example, I have observed and accept these following truths: That men and women are different. Girls and boys are different. Homosexual men are different from heterosexual men. Lesbian women are different than straight women. Well, in each case there are similarities and differences. But they are not identical or "equal" in the mathematical sense. Intellectual theories and recent social ideals are nice but biology is strong. And that's all perfectly ok.
No thanks. I'm realistic and don't actually care. It was clearly an illustrative argument and you should have known that. Also, I personally accept the often messy and non-philosophically-perfectly-mathematically-ideal nature of reality when it comes to gender and sexuality. Unlike a lot of people when it comes to these kinds of topics on the Internet. For example, I have observed and accept these following truths: That men and women are different. Girls and boys are different. Homosexual men are different from heterosexual men. Lesbian women are different than straight women. Well, in each case there are similarities and differences. But they are not identical or "equal" in the mathematical sense. Intellectual theories and recent social ideals are nice but biology is strong. And that's all perfectly ok.
> Secondly, there are many famous examples of female pirates from history and fiction (Mary Read, Grace O'Malley, Rachel Wall, etc.)
Never heard of them. The majority of "famous" pirates are men. And the vast vast vast majority of pirates overall were men. No serious historian disputes that. Exceptions do not contradict a general rule.
Never heard of them. The majority of "famous" pirates are men. And the vast vast vast majority of pirates overall were men. No serious historian disputes that. Exceptions do not contradict a general rule.
>I'm personally not happy that every time I go into a haircut shop like GreatClips that all the haircut folks are women. It makes me feel oppressed. I want to see men working there, and have men cutting my hair, so I and my sons have that as a role model.
Well then don't you think young girls should be allowed to aspire to become pirates? Personally I was offended that the only female pirate was a half-clad wench!
Well then don't you think young girls should be allowed to aspire to become pirates? Personally I was offended that the only female pirate was a half-clad wench!
You do know that some pirate ships had slaves on board? And that most women on board typical Carribean pirate ships were either pleasure slaves or serving "wenches" or prisoners, or some combination thereof. Only in very rare cases were women treated "equally" like men or were captains. Very exotic and exceptional cases.
I don't think boys or girls should aspire to be pirates. In reality, pirates engage in illegal and often violent or evil activities that harm others via violence and theft.
I don't think boys or girls should aspire to be pirates. In reality, pirates engage in illegal and often violent or evil activities that harm others via violence and theft.
pps. to your ps. This post was submitted to HN by a guy
I shall remember you fondly on Talk-like-a-pirate day.
I shall remember you fondly on Talk-like-a-pirate day.
Comments like this will drive girls away from programming.
I dated a girl in college that was very girly. She loved shoes, shopping, makeup, and lots of stereotypical girl stuff. After getting to know her better, I found out she loved legos, video games, and was good at math and science. I convinced her to take a computer science class.
She eventually decided to be a CS major. She complained about the lack of girls in the program, but the most interesting complaints were about how the few other girls made her feel.
She was a girly girl. She wasn't accepted by all of the other girls. They would take pride in their lack of girliness and shun those who didn't.
And yes... she did carry a pink laptop.