This is more of a "women in engineering" subject than "women in bio",
but it does bring up some issues in how we are portrayed as women in
male-dominated fields....
This weekend I saw for the first time a television ad for a new minivan
(don't know what company) which is being touted as having been designed
by women. Unfortunately, all the features the ad highlights seem to be
related to child-rearing rather than engineering. I get a queasy feeling
in my stomach every time I see it. It seems to be saying, "See, we're
proud that women are taking an active role in our company, just as long
as they stick to doing girl things like taking care of babies and shuttling
the neighborhood kids to baseball practice." I also dislike the implication
that men aren't capable of -- or shouldn't be -- thinking about child-related
concerns.
I think it bugs me so much because I feel like the ad really *should've* been
a more positive step in the portrayal of women as scientists and engineers.
The very idea that a company is pushing as a superior product a minivan with
a female-dominated design crew seems like it should a great boost for our
image. I just wish they hadn't made it seem like engineering was something
they did on the side, when they weren't busy with their *real* job of taking
care of the kids....
OK, that's my gripe for the day....
Karen
