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Did women doom themselves by being technologically averse?

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Most of the girls I know are "doomed" in senior positions in law, marketing and PR fields, the poor things. If only they knew how to change a CPU they could have really done something with their lives.
 
I agree, let's ban dolls. $5000 fine per doll if found in possession. Everybody should play with toys like LEGO when they're young, it's just better.

Not going to work. Girls will be girls.

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Well the reason I assume would be because medicine isn't Science, Technology, Engineering, or Math. Doctors aren't really counted as STEM either.

And this is the exact problem I have with the STEM wording.

How is a Biology/Chemistry related medical field NOT SCIENCE?
 
I tend to find many more computer literate males than females.

I can't even think of a single computer literate woman off the top of my head (not that I know many competent males either).
 
Forgive me if I am wrong, but haven't there been studies that indicate that "gendered" toy preference occurs at an early age, and have been observed across different species of primates?

It has been observed in capuchins, I believe, though I may be misremembering as well. I am unsure about other primates.

However, given the range of standards for both gender regimes (Two genders? Three genders? More? How are they understood?) and for what are considered appropriate behaviors and interests for a person to perform their gender correctly around the world, I think it is probably safe to say that humans are apparently more malleable through socialization. And I think that all else being equal, we should try to have a society in which members of whatever gender are socialized in such a way that certain career choices do not feel as though they are proscribed, either explicitly or implicitly.

I agree with what Orayn said; the default assumption should be one of equality, not of biological difference.

Regardless, while I usually agree with the message of SMBC, this one seems to somewhat oversimplify things. Would the solution really be as simple as "stop giving girls "girl" toys"? Personally, I would think that the lack of role models in STEM would be more of a significant contributing factor.

The lack of role models might contribute (though I don't know whether most STEM kids male or female get in because of role models... but then I'm not a STEM major, so what do I know?), but I think that very lack of role models is probably itself caused by the aforementioned.

This is why every kid in the fucking world should get a big box of Legos.

And regarding the point about gendered toy choices in other primates: Legos are a good example of the way a toy can become gendered and result in what amounts to gender-segregated lines, one for boys and one for girls, they don't interact with each other and are marketed in completely different ways based on stereotypical assumptions about what male and female interests are.
 
And this is the exact problem I have with the STEM wording.

How is a Biology/Chemistry related medical field NOT SCIENCE?

Because you're not actually doing any science. An RN wouldn't know a redox reaction from a Krebs cycle from a hole in the wall. A doctor might remember the terms from school but that's it.
 
And this is the exact problem I have with the STEM wording.

How is a Biology/Chemistry related medical field NOT SCIENCE?

Doctors and nurses aren't usually scientists, please do not make that mistake.

Physician-scientists do exist obviously, but they make up only small percentage of new MDs.
 
My team is made up of 5 software engineers, 3 males and 2 females. 1 male and 1 female are competent, the rest are terrible.
 
are marketed in completely different ways based on stereotypical assumptions about what male and female interests are.
They are marketed in totally different ways because that's what sells.

If the marketing didn't work, it would change. A lot of girls like dolls. There is nothing wrong with that. There's also nothing wrong with being a girl who likes hot wheels. Or Batman. Or Legos.
 
Doctors and nurses aren't usually scientists, please do not make that mistake.

As someone who has a STEM degree and many other friends with STEM degrees and many other friends in the medical field some of whom also have the generally accepted STEM degrees we've had this exact conversation and we all agreed this widely used statement (worded in many fashions) is down right laughable.

PS: It IS worth noting that the US government says medical related and biorelated fields of study fit their current definition of STEM degrees.
 
Nursing sort of gets fucked in that it's heavily bio related, but it's not considered a STEM field. I'd actually be interested to see the numbers if Nursing was included in STEM in relation to the number of men vs women graduating with STEM degrees.
Yeah, that's why, at least in my mind it's not that big of a concern that they're aren't that many women in STEM, because there are a TON in the medical field, which is a pretty important industry now and going forward.
 
They are marketed in totally different ways because that's what sells.

If the marketing didn't work, it would change. A lot of girls like dolls. There is nothing wrong with that. There's also nothing wrong with being a girl who likes hot wheels. Or Batman. Or Legos.

But why do we need different marketing for better sales for Legos amongst girls? Why don't girls -- or perhaps more aptly parents of girls -- think that regular Legos are gender neutral? What about Legos screams "this a toy for boys?"
 
what the heck does this have to do with anything? You've heard of tech support and desktop support and laptop support and software support right?

Most of the girls I know are "doomed" in senior positions in law, marketing and PR fields, the poor things. If only they knew how to change a CPU they could have really done something with their lives.

^Good God. This.
 
And regarding the point about gendered toy choices in other primates: Legos are a good example of the way a toy can become gendered and result in what amounts to gender-segregated lines, one for boys and one for girls, they don't interact with each other and are marketed in completely different ways based on stereotypical assumptions about what male and female interests are.

Yeah don't get me started on LEGO gendering. Just buy a big bucket of red/white/black/yellow rectangle bricks.

They are marketed in totally different ways because that's what sells.

If the marketing didn't work, it would change.

Well, first, this assumes that marketing just advertises products to an objective, unchanging field of demand. In reality, a huge amount of products sell due to high-volume, low-intensity demand built off of marketing or due to a lack of preferable alternatives.

But more importantly, it assumes companies emphasize profitability as the sole determinant of marketing. Even a superficial look at the creative industries, though, will reveal a parade of breakthrough hit products that defy, say, gender stereotypes (The Legend of Korra! Bridesmaids! The Hunger Games!) after years of the industries in question swearing up and down that no product of that kind could ever possibly be successful.
 
I think the comic Mumei hot linked pretty much nails it. Ultimately it's an issue of socialization and i think the OP is framed in a way that puts the onus of the issue on women. As a society we need to understand the consequences of the way we socialize boys and girls and the ultimate effect that has on so many trends later in life.
 
How many guys get computers though as kids? Replace dolls with action figures and you have my childhood. Then I eventually got a GBA, I guess.
 
I think the comic Mumei hot linked pretty much nails it. Ultimately it's an issue of socialization and i think the OP is framed in a way that puts the onus of the issue on women. As a society we need to understand the consequences of the way we socialize boys and girls and the ultimate effect that has on so many trends later in life.
On top of this, it doesn't help that being a good student will actively make you less socially viable in America.
 
As a male, I've been playing videogames since I was 4, using a computer since I was 8 or so. Women my age(23-28) still consider videogames to be kids toys and computers to be for nerds.

IT, CS etc are dominated by males. STEM majors and careers are dominated by males. Women make up half the workforce but only 25% of STEM jobs.

We are approaching a technological society, where everything is going to be driven by computers(including education and healthcare, fields dominated by females)

Are we in trouble? Are companies going to want to hire and train women on computers when males are more comfortable with technology? Is the income gap going to get worse?

Even the most Luddite women I know are perfectly capable of having successful and lucrative careers. Or are you just referring to women in technological fields?
 
How many guys get computers though as kids? Replace dolls with action figures and you have my childhood. Then I eventually got a GBA, I guess.

My sisters dolls did nothing but perhaps wet themselves and cry while their Barbies did absolutely nothing at all. My brother and I had many toys which much more interactive to go along with our action figures. My sisters moved on from dolls to makeup and boys while my brother and I moved onto consoles and computers.
 
On top of this, it doesn't help that being a good student will actively make you less socially viable in America.
Most high schools in the United States are advanced training for social conformity.

That probably that places far greater pressure on people who have any chance of being socially viable. When you're doomed to look like the part of a "nerd", it (probably) doesn't hurt nearly as much to play the part.
 
Women aren't technologically "inferior", its just how they are brought up. Change that and you will see more women in every field that is dominated by men.
 
This is why every kid in the fucking world should get a big box of Legos.

Dolls are useful too. Imagine a world with little emotional intelligence. Fuck that noise. Too many emotionally retarded people as it is right now.

And all boys played with dolls too. They just shot guns or had huge muscles and were called "Action Figures."
 
Both sexes should be raised with equality and not proscribed any particular role. They should be encouraged in a variety of interests.

But IF we do that, and one particular sex does choose an activity more overwhelmingly than the other, we shouldn't be mad about it. If there are biological differences... let them reveal themselves. There may be additional work to do based on that occurance (for example, perhaps males and females need to be encouraged to do profession X in different ways).
 
Dolls are useful too. Imagine a world with little emotional intelligence. Fuck that noise. Too many emotionally retarded people as it is right now.

And all boys played with dolls too. They just shot guns or had huge muscles and were called "Action Figures."

As was previously mentioned action figures were still more interactive the most interactivity with Barbie is choosing her latest outfit. Then you got to move on to remote control cars, NERF, and video games. Girls generally go from dolls/babies to easy bake ovens to beauty care.
 
Even the most Luddite women I know are perfectly capable of having successful and lucrative careers. Or are you just referring to women in technological fields?

im referring to the near future when most jobs will be technological in nature
 
As was previously mentioned action figures were still more interactive the most interactivity with Barbie is choosing her latest outfit. Then you got to move on to remote control cars, NERF, and video games. Girls generally go from dolls/babies to easy bake ovens to beauty care.


That reminds me... this stuff works in the reverse too. I remember when my brother had an easy bake oven. Loved it. Then he found out "it was for girls". Future male professional chef cut off by sexism? Possibly!
 
But IF we do that

We don't.

Future male professional chef cut off by sexism? Possibly!

Food is one of those interesting areas to look at, since food as prepared at home for the family is considered overwhelmingly feminine (to the point that people will disbelieve that a man, say, baked something at home or prepared dinner) but food as prepared professionally, especially in high-class establishments, is so dominantly male.
 
Do you think everyone is going to need to be a programmer? I see little girls using things with UI elements just as well as little boys.

no but everyone will need to be adaptable to new technologies. im not referring to kids now, since i think a lot of them are way ahead of the curve and have been raised with computers. its mostly women 20+ who avoided most technology until smartphones hit the mainstream
 
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