Quote:
Originally Posted by Kimmeh
After having read this article, posted by Katie, I would love to see the interviews talked about below:
I'm assuming there was a photo shoot accompanying the article and given how media portrays everything else, I have a hard time believing that each one of those girls wasn't wearing makeup or at least digitally altered in some fashion. Perhaps her skin was airbrushed to remove some acne, or some foundation and concealer was applied to hide the fact that she didn't sleep well the night before because she was stressing out over a test or project.
Personal background time:
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If anyone, student or mentor, wants to talk to someone about identifying on the LGBTQ spectrum, my inbox is always open. Or heck, just pm me and let me know that I'm not the only queer CD'er on here. |
Kimmeh, thanks for sharing. I respect your thoughts a lot and applaud the way you presented yourself. As I get my thoughts together I will probably PM you to ask about ways to make my team more of a "safe" (for lack of a better word coming to mind) place for LGBTQ students.
I'm proud of this community for discussing the issue the way we have. *THIS* is what CD should be like all the time. Let's keep it that way.
...to continue the conversation:
Chris offered some awesome advice about working with female students on teams. There definitely is a stigma that skills involved in STEM activities are natural, and we should work to show / teach anyone who feels this way that they too can learn any skill involved in STEM industry through dedication and passion. (I know that I fail at this often when I say things like, "I'm not good at math." That statement may be true, but I still should acknowledge that with practice and dedication I have the power to change that.)
Katie offered some great alternative ways to engage girls in STEM activities / FIRST. I appreciate those articles that you posted. I plan on spending time throughout the week reading them closely. (They're a bit long to try to digest all at once currently).
While Katie is promoting alternate ways to engage women in STEM, I very much appreciate Libby's post as well. I believe what she is eluding at is this concept of "(s-word) shaming" that is prominent in our society, especially middle and high schools.
This is what I have been struggling to figure out in this conversation:
What is the
root cause of the lack of female students in STEM activities? I believe that it is because of a variety of reasons, but that one big reason is the tendency of women to judge other women.
Why do we do this? Why do we have labels like "girly-girl," "(s-word)," "prude," "makeovers," etc?
What does it mean to be "feminine"?
How do we model healthy body-image, confidence, and compassion to our FLL students, who are the most impressionable?
No one has all the answers. And I certainly still don't think my opinion is THE ONE to listen to. But having this discussion here, and feeling comfortable expressing our different opinions is a START.
Using positive words to describe ourselves and other women, no matter how they look or act, is also essential.
Edit: CD is censoring my link/word. I'm respecting that, but just wanted to point out that I don't mean the s-word that means poop.