I have just read a very good article featured in the Daily Beast by Alizah Salario entitled "Daily Woes for Women in Tech" http://www.thedailybeast.com/witw/articles/2013/11/19/dating-in-the-stem-fields-can-women-in-science-be-sexy-and-successful.html
Women in the STEM fields (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) are faced with what Eileen Pollack http://nytimes.com/2013/10/06/magazine/why-are-there-still-so-few-women-in-science.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 calls the "double whammy", the sort of damned if you do, damned if you don't situation when being too feminine, attractive and good-looking will stigmatize women (of course not only those working in STEM fields) with the preconceived and stereotypical image of them not being serious or of them most probably being simply dumb and when being dressed in a labcoat or looking dorky enough will make women seem not worth dating. So is there a solution to these contradictions?
Women in the STEM fields (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) are faced with what Eileen Pollack http://nytimes.com/2013/10/06/magazine/why-are-there-still-so-few-women-in-science.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 calls the "double whammy", the sort of damned if you do, damned if you don't situation when being too feminine, attractive and good-looking will stigmatize women (of course not only those working in STEM fields) with the preconceived and stereotypical image of them not being serious or of them most probably being simply dumb and when being dressed in a labcoat or looking dorky enough will make women seem not worth dating. So is there a solution to these contradictions?
Pollack says she doesn't think "most of us challenge these paradigms" and that "we simply absorb them" and she is right.
I certainly think that the stereotypical images of women should be challenged but I also believe that those of men should be examined and changed as well. In some of my future posts I would like to take a look at men and fashion and how I think the "suit and tie conundrum" leaves us with men giving us the delusion that only they can always look smart. Intelligent in nerdy attire and smart, classy and sexy when all dressed up. A few questions I pose; must men look so boringly repetitive when it comes to fashion? Why does the suit and tie solve the problem for men of what to wear for dinner, meetings, job interviews, dates, etc. etc. but not for women? Should women have such an all-purpose uniform or should men be allowed to start wearing new types of attire even for formal occasions? I would opt for the latter so that the male vs. female image could be redefined and gender equality would be able to gain more ground.
