Sunday, March 11, 2007

Girl Power: I spent yesterday at the regional Science Olympiad. Judging from the students' study notebooks and old exams, the events are fairly rigorous - intellectually speaking.

But, what was especially heartwarming were the number of girls there. They certainly equalled, if not outnumbered, the boys. And they outnumbered them in first place winnings, too. That would not have been true when I was in high school and junior high (I won't say how long ago.) In fact, I'm pretty sure my high school math teacher would have been shocked to see the number of girls excelling in math and science. My freshman high school math teacher used to say out loud and repeatedly that girls were hopeless at math. A frequent talking point was that even if girls excelled at math when they were young, something happened to their brains in puberty that made them math stupid. In that class, boys were singled out for challenging math problems and girls were treated as if they were slow learners. And my freshman math teacher was a woman. We've come a long way.

Maybe. The day before, this came in the mail as a free sample for my office waiting room:



That's the message we want to give teenage girls, that the love of a boy and a good butt are the secret to happiness? Inside, there's a fashion spread on "flaunting it" with tips like "Draw attention to your cute booty with embellished back pockets and a knee-length cut." and "Pick a dress with ruffles near or just below your butt to send eyes right to that area." There is also a "Guide to Guys" that helpfully explains all a girl needs to know about snagging a 15, 17, or 19 year old boy.

To be fair, there are also articles about the dangers of tattoos, the dangers of binge drinking, and how to remain a virgin in college. Its overall message is not one I want to give young girls waiting in my office.

Would a magazine for young girls that was divorced from sex sell? Maybe it would. It seems that these magazines (and that goes for women's magazines, too) are still stuck in the pre-femininst movement past. Their major themes still revolve around how to please a man. The only thing that has changed is how. In the pre-femininst era, it was all about building a happy home environment. Today, it's all about fulfilling his sexual needs. Sigh. We haven't come such a long way after all. In fact, we've regressed:

 

3 Comments:

Didn't know if you noticed you were featured on Forbes as one of the best medical blogs.

Congrats.

-InsideDisease

By  Anonymous, at 8:17 PM  

Thanks. Although, I think that was from 2005.

By  Sydney, at 10:58 PM  

Magazines like that make me scared to have a girl if I ever decide to have a family.

By  Nick, at 3:37 PM  

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