I have always been science and math-minded. I encourage girls to love science and math--and to look into science/engineering/math related careers. On several occasions I have had opportunities to take my daughters and some of their friends to different events which encourage girls to enter STEM careers...or other careers which have been male-dominated historically.
So here's my issue: at these events, so many of the exhibitors and/or speakers are often kind of mannish in their way of dress and styling. Seriously.
The point of these events is that girls can do this! But the unstated message is that they have to be kind of less-feminine?
I really don't agree with that and I know that not all who are in those careers are less-feminine. I was privileged to go to an annual conference of Society of Women Engineers last year and got to see an entire conference center full of women, mostly in fancy dresses for an evening awards banquet. That was definitely in contrast to an event I took my daughter and 3 other girls to this week--one which was intended to show girls that they can in fact enter careers which they might not otherwise have looked into (b/c often they are tagged as men's careers)--but most of the exhibitors were very masculine in their dress and styles.
I understand that this is some people's personal style. Okay. HOWEVER--if we want all girls to feel that these careers are open to them as well, perhaps we ought to illustrate the spectrum--so that those girls who are "girly" or frilly or whatever--do not feel excluded either.
Maybe I'm looking too deeply at this, but I do know that there are females in engineering/science/math who do actually like to wear cute dresses, makeup, fancy hairdos, etc. and are still killer scientists/engineers/mathematicians, etc.
And I'd like my frilly and sparkly-loving girls to know this.
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I can very much understand your desire. You need to see the spectrum when you are young to know it's possible. :)
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