From: mroussel@alchemy.chem.utoronto.ca (Marc Roussel)
Subject: Re: Mattel says "Math is tough."
Organization: Department of Chemistry, University of Toronto
Date: Mon, 5 Oct 1992 22:38:41 GMT

In article <5840@tuegate.tue.nl> wsadjw@urc.tue.nl writes:
>In article <1992Oct5.145314.2836@alchemy.chem.utoronto.ca>
>mroussel@alchemy.chem.utoronto.ca (Marc Roussel) writes:
>>The problem with Barbie saying that math is hard is that this doll will
>>be not be given to college-aged women but to young girls.
>
>I get it.  To give a girl a doll that says "X is hard"  "Y is tough" or
>anything like that, will brainwash the little brat and condemn her to a
>lifetime of simpering weakness.  Presumably little boys who want to be
>president or astronaut or fireman or whatever are not daunted by the 
>possibility that it may require some effort.
>But then, little boys don't get barbie dolls.  Maybe that is the problem.

     That is part of the problem.  Boys get toys that tell them that
they can do things.  Dolls for boys are astronauts and firemen.  Boys
are surrounded by messages that tell them that the world is theirs for
the taking.  (I am deliberately ignoring the plight of ethnic minorities
who are usually in a different situation altogether, male or female.)
Besides, can you even imagine Hasbro programming a G.I. Joe doll to say
"Math is hard"?  It would just seem a silly thing for Joe to say.
Doesn't that tell you something in itself?
     Girls on the other hand are constantly bombarded by subtle messages
that tell them that anything other than baking cookies is going to be
hard.  This doll is just one of many vehicles for such messages.  It is
very difficult to get rid of some of the other negative messages to which
young women are subjected, but we may be able to get rid of this doll
(or at least to have the manufacturer reprogram it).
     To rephrase my last paragraph, if this doll were the only thing
around that suggested specifically to young girls that math was a
special obstacle to their future plans, then it wouldn't matter.
Unfortunately, it isn't.  If you don't believe that, then explain why
women select themselves out of higher mathematics as early as high
school (i.e. before it really gets hard).  A typical university-bound
woman is, in my experience, quite capable of handling any mathematics
required for a successful career in the natural sciences or engineering.
Why then do such women disqualify themselves from such careers so early?
The only answer that makes sense to me is that somehow, somewhere along
the way, they start to believe that they ultimately would not be
successful in mathematically oriented careers.  (I have a lot of
anecdotal evidence to back this up.  I realize that this does not
constitute the basis for a proper scientific statement, so I won't
write any of it here.  There is however a study I read some time ago
which confirmed my suspicion that the anti-selection operating here
has almost nothing to do with ability as measured by, for example,
classroom performance to that point and a good deal to do with
self-image.  I should start to keep an index of such things because I
can never remember where I read them...)  Having your early toys tell
you that you can expect to have trouble in math is sure to reinforce
whatever negative self-perceptions you might be accumulating.

				Marc R. Roussel
                                mroussel@alchemy.chem.utoronto.ca