In a world that never understands you...
"...enter things that involve machinery? confused That's one thing I still don't understand. I mean, is it still so deeply ingrained in our society that women supposedly aren't meant to be mechanically inclined, that it's strictly a man's job?
I'm one of only two girls on our school's robotics club, and the other girl (my friend) is basically just a cheerleader/social butterfly for the team. I'm the one that truly gets into this activity for it's meant to be; building robots. And after having been in this club for almost a year now and seeing the types of people that seem most interested, I've noticed just how discouraged most girls seem to be from joining our club. Whether it's from their parents nudging them to just keep walking past, their friends pressuring them by saying it's a 'nerds only' club, or even their own self-esteem problems...most girls just appear to feel like they simply cannot do it. confused
It just bugs me in a way, because the most frequent question I get from other girls that are semi-interested is, "Do you have to be smart?"
This question bothers me the most of all. Because it's like they're insulting their own intelligence, like they're trying to fall back into the 1920's ideal that women aren't meant to be smart. And that sure as hell isn't true.
I may not be a genius, but my design concepts and strategies have often been picked to be featured on our robots due to their efficiency. While the boys are merely intent upon slapping something together half-a$$ed, I take my time to analyze the situation and come up with a design that'll actually function properly. Women are needed in fields like robotics, because we can think in ways that men often do not. We see from a different perspective, and don't have huge egos to defend if we're logically proven as wrong.
I just don't understand why so many girls are either uninterested in or discouraged from mechanical hobbies...
((I was recently asked by the principal to write an article for our local newspaper about girls in robotics, and this train of thought just occurred to me today. I want to hear outside opinions. smile )) "
I'm one of only two girls on our school's robotics club, and the other girl (my friend) is basically just a cheerleader/social butterfly for the team. I'm the one that truly gets into this activity for it's meant to be; building robots. And after having been in this club for almost a year now and seeing the types of people that seem most interested, I've noticed just how discouraged most girls seem to be from joining our club. Whether it's from their parents nudging them to just keep walking past, their friends pressuring them by saying it's a 'nerds only' club, or even their own self-esteem problems...most girls just appear to feel like they simply cannot do it. confused
It just bugs me in a way, because the most frequent question I get from other girls that are semi-interested is, "Do you have to be smart?"
This question bothers me the most of all. Because it's like they're insulting their own intelligence, like they're trying to fall back into the 1920's ideal that women aren't meant to be smart. And that sure as hell isn't true.
I may not be a genius, but my design concepts and strategies have often been picked to be featured on our robots due to their efficiency. While the boys are merely intent upon slapping something together half-a$$ed, I take my time to analyze the situation and come up with a design that'll actually function properly. Women are needed in fields like robotics, because we can think in ways that men often do not. We see from a different perspective, and don't have huge egos to defend if we're logically proven as wrong.
I just don't understand why so many girls are either uninterested in or discouraged from mechanical hobbies...
((I was recently asked by the principal to write an article for our local newspaper about girls in robotics, and this train of thought just occurred to me today. I want to hear outside opinions. smile )) "
...the machines will always understand your pain.