The IMMEDIATE family response was, “oh, honey, you wouldn’t like that. And you would find it so hard to get boys to go out with you! You should look at something like graphic design, instead.” This from her mom, too.

(I tried to counter this as best I could, but I was one voice against five. It’s an open question as to whether it did much good.)

Do I think she would have gotten this kind of feedback if she had been a boy? Not just “no”; HELL no. Do any of the “studies” Tierney quotes take into account this kind of cultural feedback to teen girls? Not just “no”; HELL no.

Can you make ANY kind of statement about what girls “naturally” want, with this kind of thing going on under the radar?

I think the answer follows a certain pattern, don’t you?

See you can share.

(PS, men can file Title IX complaints, too. The law saws ‘gender’ not ‘female.’ But I forgot , men don’t deal well with people and filling out forms.

> I would say Tierney’s article was about as scientifically
> rigorous as PP’s, actually. Some of these comments
> are infuriatingly patronizing. I’m flabbergasted. I may
> have to write my own response to that dumbass article
> this weekend. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure I use “experts
> and studies” as airtight as the ones from that NYT article.

If you believe the studies Tierney refers to are poor, why not say how? I don’t know anything about those particular studies, but I could certainly imagine they misuse data in some important way.

> > similar claims backed by interviews with women
> > and other data do not deserve the same response

> Dude. Do the experiences of women here not count
> or something? Have you read anything at all about
> the experiences of women in science? PP himself has
> provided examples of sexism he’s seen with his own
> eyes.

Of course the experiences of women here count. And of course the sexism that PP has seen counts. I’m sure many commenters here have experienced objectively wrong treatment by males in the sciences. But when you try and understand a large scale fact (“many branches of science are almost entirely male”) by going only by the experiences of people you know, you’re subject to a pernicious bias. I just graduated from college and I’ve watched all my female friends who started off studying hard sciences end up doing “softer” things. One was a very talented engineering student who switched in her junior year to religion. Another majored in computer science and engineering, but will be working in media. They both moved to something they enjoyed more, much less because of the people than the activity.

You would object to me using these experiences to claim that personal preference is the root of the division. And you would be reasonable for you to so object. We all have to realize that the experiences of our friends may not be typical. And if we want to understand something as large as the division of employment in the sciences, we have to use a sampling method that draws from as large a range of people, not just those unhappy enough about the status quo to comment on a feminist blog.

hahahahaha!!

it doesn’t take a post like this to make feminists look irrational. just about all of their man-hating posts do that!

while y’all are busy tearing down the “male-dominated” fields, we guys are wondering why it is that a segment of the female population absolutely hates men. this “revenge” thing has consumed feminists. they’re fine with tearing down science, engineering, men’s athletics, etc. with their quotas.

if they really care about equity, why don’t they go after nursing and psychology?

if you really care about forcing women into careers where they’re under-represented, why not demand that women take half of the construction & farming jobs?

that’s right, i’m asking why we don’t go after a 50/50 mix on that framing crew. i want to know why you aren’t pushing for more women to be represented up in the hay loft, stacking 80# bales.

isn’t it time for y’all to go after those vocational programs in high schools? shouldn’t there be more young ladies in welding and more young men in cosmetology?

i’ll answer my own question. it’s obvious that you don’t care about equity. equal opportunities already exist. people take advantage of them every single day.

you just want to select a few easy targets and ignore the realities of the world.

what y’all really want is pay-back.

I’m looking forward to it!

Yeah. I’m gonna have to blog about this myself…

Schweet! Please drop a link in the comments here so we can easily find it.