On Thu, Nov 04, 1999 at 11:34:25AM -0800, Amber Fechko wrote:
>
> This reminds me of myself. :) When I was younger, I absolutely
> /loved/ the Transformers, both the comic books and the TV series. I'd get
> up to watch it with my brother.. all the while being teased by both my
> parents and my peers, probably because I didn't show much interest in the
> shows directed towards females my age. (Then again, I really didn't show
> much interest in anything directed towards females my age, maybe that's
> why I've never really 'fit in'.)
aol. I hear this a lot from genderqueer females and geek females. Young
girl aimed stuff generally sucks. I mean would you rather watch the
care-bears cartoon and be pelting with cuteness or Transformers? (or
sabercats, or batman).
> I ended up being a Transformer for Halloween (Voltron, specifically :),
> and ended up being teased even more.. this is probably when I started
> becoming closer to the males. *They* thought it was a cool costume. ;)
I used to love to play with model cars and planes and rockets...
I would bring 5-7 little cars in my lunch box and one day, in first
grade, the yard-duty (female) confiscated the cars and told me that
"girls didn't play with cars". So I hit the computer lab, and really
haven't come out since. ;)
> I wish they'd stress individualism more for young children, I play
> somewhat of an 'older sister' role for my 8yo neighbor, and she's
> constantly telling me how she's always being teased for not doing things
> in the same way as everyone else.. (i.e. - she's a boy scout, not a girl
> scout, that happened when she got bored with the girls, who went on one
> camping trip that didn't include tents.. the leaders brought their motor
> home, lol). She's much more happy spending time with the boys, which is
> how I was (and usually still am.. considering the complete lack of
> geek-females in my area).
Hmm the boy scouts must be making exceptions to their 3g's (gays girls
and godless) rules. Girl scouts was so boring. I hoped it had changed
since when I was one, but I guess not. :/ I think that this sort of thing
may lead to more internalized misogyny among such females, like
growing up with the idea that other females are lame and boring. Combined
with a realization that you are in a group /you/ consider to be lame
and boring, it can't be good for the developing geek-female.
> To somewhat tie this back to women/issues (hopefully..), how would we make
> an impression on young women that being yourself is ok? I did my own
> thing in elementary/middle/high school, and I was usually alienated
> because of it.
I donno, at what ages is it most important to make that sort of impression?
I would say somewhere between 8-13 (some say high school is too late).
I wonder if any of the professional societies like SWE have any programs
or outreach activities.
nico
--
ND Hailey www.demona.com
"You don't hardly know yourself, girl, till you find yourself
doing things you never imagined." --Dorothy Allison
************
[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.linuxchix.org
