Does Barbie Still Think “Math Class is Tough”?

(Wrote this for a class post, but expanded into something bigger. Just copied it over.)

In 1992 the first talking Barbie proclaimed that math class was tough. Thankfully we’ve come a long way from then…or have we? Sex differences are still wildly exaggerated and as a result, some people take them to heart.

I actually want to write about my personal struggle with the idea/theory of sex differences. As a feminist, scientist, and female, I have a very hard time accepting that something about my body could possibly hold me back in even the slightest way compared to a man. It frustrates me and every inch of my being wants to refuse that it can’t be true, that I am an equal, that there is nothing a man can do that I can’t do equally or better. But the scientist part of me makes me wonder if my denial is good science on my part. Is it ethical of me to ignore possible biological data that would go against my agenda and desires? Of course not; I would denigrate anyone who purposely ignored facts in their own interests. Yet when it comes to evidence that might in any way hold me back, it is very hard to accept.

I was thinking more about the slight differences between men and women and how they are portrayed. For example, the “women are more verbally talented” and the same with men and math. This is an interpretation of data that leads many women to go into the “soft sciences” like psychology or sociology and men to go into the “hard sciences” like math and engineering, which require spatial skills. Let’s assume that there are minor differences between men and women and the above is true. Society accepts that women, in their natural state, are slightly less adept than men, on average, at math (but not at ALL incompetent, and still very able to hold their own with the same training and personal work). What do you suppose the outcome of this conclusion would be/has been? And what SHOULD it be?

I would argue that for the most part, we HAVE accepted that interpretation of the current evidence. And our response as a society has been to simply accept that women will always be just a little bit less good at math-related things. Here is where the gargantuan problem arises: In an equal and fair society (perhaps one that valued women’s dreams and aspirations as much as it did men’s) we would help encourage and develop women to make up that little extra ground so that they would be equal on the playing field as men, and be able to successfully contribute to the field. Furthermore, their ideas and perspectives as women would be valued as such. But instead…

Instead, the concept of women as less good at math, etc. has been used as an excuse to value their well-rounded education slightly less. Since women are naturally handicapped, it is easier to shunt them to the soft sciences and let the natural experts – men –  handle the heavy thinking over in the math department. And remember – this is all based not on absolute fact, but on interpretations of what little data we have (there are still plenty of things to be discovered in neuroscience). When you consider the idea of a natural handicap, the fact that women are such a minority in maths and physics becomes clear. Few women want to enter a field where the odds are already against them, and they will be ridiculed and rallied against for being in a man’s world.

In summary, I hope we can all strive to further women’s education by teaching our little girls that math is just as fun as reading, and that building things with K’Nex or Tinkertoys can be just as exciting as dressing a doll (and vice versa with our little boys). Because once we have a generation of young girls who realize their full potential – not just as women, but as human beings with minds and a passion for understanding the world around them – the planet is going to suddenly become a much better place.