Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!seismo!sundc!pitstop!sun!decwrl!labrea!agate!pasteur!ames!haven!uvaarpa!mcnc!ecsvax!dkeisen@gang-of-four.stanford.edu From: dkeisen@gang-of-four.stanford.edu (Dave Eisen) Newsgroups: comp.society.women Subject: Re: Countering discrimination your children will face Message-ID: <5403@ecsvax.uncecs.edu> Date: 23 Sep 88 17:15:36 GMT References: <5396@ecsvax.uncecs.edu> Sender: skyler@ecsvax.uncecs.edu Organization: Mathematics Department, Stanford University Lines: 48 Approved: skyler@ecsvax.uncecs.edu (Moderator -- Trish Roberts) Comments-to: comp-women-request@cs.purdue.edu Submissions-to: comp-women@cs.purdue.edu In article <5396@ecsvax.uncecs.edu> pedersen%math.Berkeley.EDU@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU writes: >I was supported by my parents and teachers too. The general public is >a different story. I have a tale of two math majors to tell. > >The first math major is me. Once I'd declared my college major, I was >plagued by people telling me: > > "Oh, my, math, that's unusual for a girl to do" > "You must be really bright" > "You don't look like a math nerd (you're really pretty)" > "You don't act like a math nerd (you have social skills)" > >I pretty much ignored these comments, considering them the same way I >consider silly statements like: > > "Math was always my worst subject" > "I stopped taking math after 8th grade" > "I hate math" Make that three of us. Of course I don't get "That's unusual for a girl to do" and nobody has ever accused me of being pretty, but I get all 5 of the other responses very routinely. These comments never bothered me too much when I was still in school, but now that I'm a faculty person it's almost gotten to be too much to bear. I've gotten to the point where I do my best to not tell people what I do for a living. I love Math, I've loved it ever since I was a small boy. My job is exactly what I've dreamed of all my life. And I love my work, but the social hassles have taken most of the fun away from it. I'm not sure how this all differs for men and women. I think society still expects men (more so than women) to be primarily interested in making money. I know I get lots of people who don't understand why I'm a mathematician when I could be out in the real world making twice the money I make. I guess the world never understands starving artists. And I've never heard of a little girl dreamily saying "When I grow up, I want to marry a Mathematician." Dave Eisen dkeisen@Gang-of-Four.Stanford.EDU 439 Del Medio Ave., #39 Mountain View, CA 94040 (415) 941-6810