Quote:
Originally Posted by kgalea
Perhaps this could be viewed as a way to inspire girls who are using their products (the ones who are currently "conforming" to the traditional "norms") to take a look at something like FIRST and realize there is a place for them in the organization as well. I coach a team with 10 girls (out of 21 team members this year). Some of them are big into wearing make up and some are not, but they are ALL big into working on the robot and being a part of the team.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by E Dawg
I wouldn't say that this was at the expense of the core goals of FIRST. Maybe because (like you said) there is a push in FIRST at improving representation of minorities and women, this is an attempt to show that STEM roles are friendly to girls who are into things like makeup, since it may seem to those girls that they are pushed away for being too "feminine".
tl;dr FIRST is trying to bring people in, not drive people out.
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As a girl who regularly enjoys doing and wearing both makeup and nail polish, I applaud this move. In our attempt to include more girls, we've always stressed that they can do everything boys can do. That they're not any different from the boys. We should be encouraging girls that there's a place for them in FIRST, regardless of whether or not they feel more comfortable in heels, a dress, and makeup, or jeans, sneakers, and a hoodie. There's nothing wrong with enjoying looking/acting like a "stereotypical girl" just like there's nothing wrong with not meeting those same stereotypes.
For me, make up isn't about trying to reach an arbitrary standard of beauty. I use it to express myself and my interests. My eyes and nails usually match my team colors. This weekend was spent in scholarship row so every day, my eyes have sported FIRST's colors. Life's short and make up comes in all kinds of colors. Why shouldn't I have fun with it? I enjoy wearing heels just as much, but I realize it's simply not practical to wear them all day to a competition.
Neither fact should have any bearing on my abilities or my roles on my team.
And as an aside, I'd rather do things like stripes or numbers on my face (or the face of others) in makeup because I know the products were intended to be used on the face. I've used inferior products that my students have reacted poorly too. I know what I'm getting into with makeup and I know the best ways to apply and remove it.