I don't need to say this, so I will. But of course! Whenever I see the types of statistics you noted from Nancy Giordano, I (now) roll my eyes, either actually, physically, or metaphorically, philosophically, in my mind. Such raw statistics are indicative of an outcome without a reason, a description without a context. A personal example here might be helpful.
I'm a runner. When I say that, I mean a psychotic-level, do almost anything, run almost anywhere, type of runner. I have done many marathons, several 50-milers, a veritable crap-ton of ultramarathons on trails, navigation-based races, races at night, relay races using vans, you name it. In almost all of them, with rare--and I mean RARE--exceptions, I am, at best, among a handful of other Black folks. At no point during my embrace of this lifestyle, or leading up to it, or before it, did I attend a, "let's find a way to interest Black folks in running" seminar. Maybe I'm just weird. And maybe guys just like driving spaceships, discovering planets, and eating food out of a replicator. So, effing, what?
If you want to do something, do it. If you wonder why other folks aren't doing it, well, maybe you're just weird. As John McClane might say, "Welcome to the party, Pal!" Either way, it's probably not due to some nefarious plot to keep Black folks from embracing trail racing, or whatever.
You bring up some very good points (and I very much appreciate you being respectful about them!). I very much believe in the "well let's just build it" bent, and that's why I am writing utopian sci-fi (yes, with conflict and tension) and am being very entrepreneurial about it. I think sometimes though, it helps to have a pump up speech. Just in case you're a woman thinking about it, and not doing it!
Great points Elle. The other thing that’s odd to me--is the obvious divide in toy packaging. If we go to any store these days, everything dedicated to girls is, well, obviously non-engineering related. Whereas the boys section is obviously engineering and builder friendly. Not saying that they shouldn’t play with dolls of course. But I don’t think we’ve figured out how to attract girls to mechanical games ... Any ideas on this?
Excellent. It always amazes me that the feminist activist types pushing for sex parity in engineering are almost NEVER actual engineers. Why? Because ACTUAL engineering doesn't interest them (plus its hard), their interest ends as social engineering. I have been getting into Arduino lately (open source coding, robotics and mechatronics) and I GUARANTEE that the vast majority of people who invest their free time, energy and money into learning this stuff, and building robots for fun, are males. Its just in our nature. As you say, if women want to make write Sci-Fi or make robots, excellent, then WRITE it, or MAKE them, and stop whining about it.
That isn't actually the case here. I am a female sci-fi writer, my sister is a video game engineer, and my other sister is an environmental scientist. We're all walking the walk and we're certainly not complaining about those who are not (even if we also hope for more female peers). We are doing, not whining.
I am reminded, however, of the engineering sex-parity propaganda rife throughout the culture, such as things like Rosie Revere Engineer, bankrolled and/or promoted by the likes of Barak Obama and fellow travelers, none of whom would know by which end to hold a hammer. My own girls have watched it, although they are distinctly not drawn to it. There is this activist cohort out there that wants to do social engineering, but not real engineering. I say, let people be who they are, let the people with the interest do whatever subject they want, regardless of immutable characteristics.
I don't need to say this, so I will. But of course! Whenever I see the types of statistics you noted from Nancy Giordano, I (now) roll my eyes, either actually, physically, or metaphorically, philosophically, in my mind. Such raw statistics are indicative of an outcome without a reason, a description without a context. A personal example here might be helpful.
I'm a runner. When I say that, I mean a psychotic-level, do almost anything, run almost anywhere, type of runner. I have done many marathons, several 50-milers, a veritable crap-ton of ultramarathons on trails, navigation-based races, races at night, relay races using vans, you name it. In almost all of them, with rare--and I mean RARE--exceptions, I am, at best, among a handful of other Black folks. At no point during my embrace of this lifestyle, or leading up to it, or before it, did I attend a, "let's find a way to interest Black folks in running" seminar. Maybe I'm just weird. And maybe guys just like driving spaceships, discovering planets, and eating food out of a replicator. So, effing, what?
If you want to do something, do it. If you wonder why other folks aren't doing it, well, maybe you're just weird. As John McClane might say, "Welcome to the party, Pal!" Either way, it's probably not due to some nefarious plot to keep Black folks from embracing trail racing, or whatever.
Done: https://storyoriginapp.com/universalbooklinks/a962220e-6073-11e9-99d3-4b564ed1f5fe
Yeah!
You bring up some very good points (and I very much appreciate you being respectful about them!). I very much believe in the "well let's just build it" bent, and that's why I am writing utopian sci-fi (yes, with conflict and tension) and am being very entrepreneurial about it. I think sometimes though, it helps to have a pump up speech. Just in case you're a woman thinking about it, and not doing it!
Great points Elle. The other thing that’s odd to me--is the obvious divide in toy packaging. If we go to any store these days, everything dedicated to girls is, well, obviously non-engineering related. Whereas the boys section is obviously engineering and builder friendly. Not saying that they shouldn’t play with dolls of course. But I don’t think we’ve figured out how to attract girls to mechanical games ... Any ideas on this?
Excellent. It always amazes me that the feminist activist types pushing for sex parity in engineering are almost NEVER actual engineers. Why? Because ACTUAL engineering doesn't interest them (plus its hard), their interest ends as social engineering. I have been getting into Arduino lately (open source coding, robotics and mechatronics) and I GUARANTEE that the vast majority of people who invest their free time, energy and money into learning this stuff, and building robots for fun, are males. Its just in our nature. As you say, if women want to make write Sci-Fi or make robots, excellent, then WRITE it, or MAKE them, and stop whining about it.
That isn't actually the case here. I am a female sci-fi writer, my sister is a video game engineer, and my other sister is an environmental scientist. We're all walking the walk and we're certainly not complaining about those who are not (even if we also hope for more female peers). We are doing, not whining.
I am reminded, however, of the engineering sex-parity propaganda rife throughout the culture, such as things like Rosie Revere Engineer, bankrolled and/or promoted by the likes of Barak Obama and fellow travelers, none of whom would know by which end to hold a hammer. My own girls have watched it, although they are distinctly not drawn to it. There is this activist cohort out there that wants to do social engineering, but not real engineering. I say, let people be who they are, let the people with the interest do whatever subject they want, regardless of immutable characteristics.
Well that's great. The way it should be.