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Women in Mathematics

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Fnord
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31 Dec 2008, 5:17 pm

YowlingCat wrote:
Uncle Fnord:
"Now, for example, take this equation, (x^2+3x+5)/(x(x+1)), if you........"

Nieces:
"Did you know, um, like, that Mary was, like, um still seeing Mike?..."

They'll need a female to do the 'splainin' at this point. Too far gone in the system as it is. And who wants to listen to Uncle Nerdy? :P

Christine?! ! Log off and do your homework! :wink:


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Shiggily
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31 Dec 2008, 10:39 pm

mixtapebooty wrote:
I'm heartbroken over the unfair advantage that men in our society have. My talents for mathematics were ignored and taken for granted by adults in my life growing up. I was also traumatised as a kid and never got to develop an intensity for anything, that I now crave, and have craved for a long time. Special interests in mathematics for a female with AS are a pure luxury, and to be a female with AS and pursue the kind of mathematics that you want and achieve a higher order profession is like a miracle that I'm waiting to witness on Sunday. I'm not generally a male basher, but the fact is, men disallow women from achievement of anything outside of a family at large. Women have to work around men to do the same things that everyone steps back and allows men to do freely. The females natural nurturing instincts have been exploited to show mothering as a dominant interest of women. Not all women really like mathematics or science, so it is acceptable to assume that nothing in these realms has been unfairly withheld from some, but the numbers should at least be even, as with the number of women and men with AS. UNFAIR.


nothing is stopping you from going to college to study math.

I grew up abused in a trailer and was held back because I didn't socialize with my age peers. My high school refused to let me graduate early and my mother refused to let me homeschool myself and I still graduated with honors in math from college and I will go back to study more and right now I am ordering math books and watching lecture from ItunesU and reading lecture notes from MIT even though I am not near any graduate college for math, so don't expect me to feel sorry for you.



Shiggily
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31 Dec 2008, 10:42 pm

Fnord wrote:
Shiggily wrote:
Fnord wrote:
... I've offered to tutor nieces in algebra for free, but the girls soon lose interest in favor of texting their bffs about who said what to whom and why ... :roll:

that would indicate a lack of interest.

Ah, but why? I do my best to explain the fundamentals, but I can't inspire interest.


I don't know. I went to a thing for New Years Eve and I did lesson plans for Calc and PreCalc and of the 8 people who stopped by to talk to me 4 were guys and 4 were girls. All 4 guys were interested in what I was doing, asking questions and having me explain what I was looking at or projects I would have my students do. Of the 4 girls... 3 said "ew, math is gross", and one lady gave me a dirty look and said "I despise math".

Sometimes you can inspire interest and sometimes you can't.



Last edited by Shiggily on 07 Jan 2009, 3:41 am, edited 1 time in total.

YowlingCat
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31 Dec 2008, 11:09 pm

Quote:
Of the 4 girls... 3 said "ew, math is gross", and one lady gave me a dirty look and said "I despise math".

That is pure US "culture" and the female pack mentality. None of them would dare act interested or intelligent in front of the males. Not a chance. They'd turn on the female who did instantly - after out of earshot of the males.



Shiggily
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31 Dec 2008, 11:34 pm

YowlingCat wrote:
Quote:
Of the 4 girls... 3 said "ew, math is gross", and one lady gave me a dirty look and said "I despise math".

That is pure US "culture" and the female pack mentality. None of them would dare act interested or intelligent in front of the males. Not a chance. They'd turn on the female who did instantly - after out of earshot of the males.


actually at the time the women stopped, there were no men around.



YowlingCat
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31 Dec 2008, 11:42 pm

Still the pack mentality.



Shiggily
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31 Dec 2008, 11:57 pm

YowlingCat wrote:
Still the pack mentality.


I fail to see that. I sit in a corner. only one person ever comes to talk to me at a single time.

I do whatever I want and no one seems to care.



pakled
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01 Jan 2009, 2:52 am

sigh...

Ok, one of the big reasons is that women in the past were 'steered' away from math in general, especially higher math. At that time, guidance counselors professors would spout the pre-feminist line about math. Educators and feminists have been working very hard (yes, even in the US) to get more women into math and science.

One thing (contra-intuitively) that seems to have helped is sexually segregated classrooms. It seems without the desire for a guy's attention, women can be more confident and assertive about learning subjects in general.

I work in a research branch of a large company, and I see a lot of women who are good with math (as far as biology is concerned. I can't even identify the symbols, much less know what it's all about..;)

If you feel you're mathematically gifted (and you appear to be), go for it, and don't take no for an answer.



Shiggily
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01 Jan 2009, 3:21 am

pakled wrote:
sigh...

Ok, one of the big reasons is that women in the past were 'steered' away from math in general, especially higher math. At that time, guidance counselors professors would spout the pre-feminist line about math. Educators and feminists have been working very hard (yes, even in the US) to get more women into math and science.


I know why women were steered away from math in the past. But I am wondering why today with the pushing people seem to be giving them, they still do not want to study math.

Quote:
One thing (contra-intuitively) that seems to have helped is sexually segregated classrooms. It seems without the desire for a guy's attention, women can be more confident and assertive about learning subjects in general.


do you think we should segregate classes according to gender?

Quote:
If you feel you're mathematically gifted (and you appear to be), go for it, and don't take no for an answer.


I think women should be in math... but only if they want to be in math. Some do and I encourage it, most don't and I don't want to force women into math just to even out a percentage.



pakled
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01 Jan 2009, 5:28 pm

I'm not sure why women aren't more prevalent in math today. I'm sure a lot of educators don't know either. Probably the usual 'clues' from Hollywood, society in general. It's not something that can change overnight, more's the pity.

I don't advocate segregated classrooms. I've just read some articles here and there that have advocated it. Further study is needed.

Actually, I meant you personally. You sound like you have an affinity for it (I got lost after algebra...;). Do what thou wilt...



Shiggily
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01 Jan 2009, 8:38 pm

pakled wrote:
I'm not sure why women aren't more prevalent in math today. I'm sure a lot of educators don't know either. Probably the usual 'clues' from Hollywood, society in general. It's not something that can change overnight, more's the pity.

I don't advocate segregated classrooms. I've just read some articles here and there that have advocated it. Further study is needed.

Actually, I meant you personally. You sound like you have an affinity for it (I got lost after algebra...;). Do what thou wilt...


ohhhhh

I want to pursue it. But I am a little stuck right now as I am in Okinawa and there are no math classes past Calculus. But I am going to be a Calculus teacher, so hopefully I can get a job near a graduate college for some math or math-based science.


Not sure how gifted I am in it, but I can make As or at the worst a B- and I like it.



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02 Jan 2009, 12:53 am

YowlingCat wrote:
That is pure US "culture" and the female pack mentality. None of them would dare act interested or intelligent in front of the males. Not a chance. They'd turn on the female who did instantly - after out of earshot of the males.

Having quite *not* grown up in a bourgeois environment, I can confidently say that actively showing disdain for intellectual pursuits is not a strictly female attribute.


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mixtapebooty
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02 Jan 2009, 1:05 am

Shiggily wrote:

nothing is stopping you from going to college to study math.

I grew up abused in a trailer and was held back because I didn't socialize with my age peers. My high school refused to let me graduate early and my mother refused to let me homeschool myself and I still graduated with honors in math from college and I will go back to study more and right now I am ordering math books and watching lecture from ItunesU and reading lecture notes from MIT even though I am not near any graduate college for math, so don't expect me to feel sorry for you.



You've achieved a lot more than I have in Math. You have a competitiveness that I don't share, and I don't expect anyone to feel sorry for me, personally. I came out on this board just to let the community know who I am and where I stand with AS related topics, that's all.



Shiggily
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02 Jan 2009, 2:07 am

mixtapebooty wrote:
Shiggily wrote:

nothing is stopping you from going to college to study math.

I grew up abused in a trailer and was held back because I didn't socialize with my age peers. My high school refused to let me graduate early and my mother refused to let me homeschool myself and I still graduated with honors in math from college and I will go back to study more and right now I am ordering math books and watching lecture from ItunesU and reading lecture notes from MIT even though I am not near any graduate college for math, so don't expect me to feel sorry for you.



You've achieved a lot more than I have in Math. You have a competitiveness that I don't share, and I don't expect anyone to feel sorry for me, personally. I came out on this board just to let the community know who I am and where I stand with AS related topics, that's all.


get out there and try. If you like math... then study it. Even if it is not at a university, you can still study some on your own.



Fnord
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02 Jan 2009, 11:52 am

So ... it seems to be an issue among girls that appearing "brainy" in front of boys makes those girls feel less attractive to those boys.

Since when is a brainy girl or woman unattractive? I'd rather have a meaningful conversation with Suparna, the Rocket Scientist; than Rebecca, the Journalist.

Somehow, a woman who can think outside the herd is much more sexy to me than your average fluff-brained, made-up, silicone-enhanced ditz who spends more money than she earns and can't understand why she's always broke.


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Shiggily
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02 Jan 2009, 9:24 pm

Fnord wrote:
So ... it seems to be an issue among girls that appearing "brainy" in front of boys makes those girls feel less attractive to those boys.

Since when is a brainy girl or woman unattractive? I'd rather have a meaningful conversation with Suparna, the Rocket Scientist; than Rebecca, the Journalist.

Somehow, a woman who can think outside the herd is much more sexy to me than your average fluff-brained, made-up, silicone-enhanced ditz who spends more money than she earns and can't understand why she's always broke.


I always thought that mattered only in high school, when the herd/conformist pack is at its worst.