I heart this cartoon
By Samara Ginsberg | 18 February 2008, 21:54
That is all.
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Feeds
Abby said:
Yeah, it is cool. Bit more weight on that stick woman and it could've been me back in my hell-raising days of lunchtime maths club at school...hehe..
Posted on 18 February 2008 at 10:23 PM
Damon said:
I don't get it?
Posted on 18 February 2008 at 11:45 PM
Lynne Miles said:
Damon - the joke lies in the fact that a male can demonstrate himself to be bad at maths and the only inference drawn is that he (individually) is bad at maths. When a female demonstrates herself to be bad at something (particularly when the something is traditionally a 'male thing' like maths) the inference is that (as stereotypically expected) women (collectively) are bad at maths.
Sort of in the way that sometimes it feels like you can't go for a tight parking spot when people are watching without worrying that you're representing your entire gender's ability to park....
Posted on February 19, 2008 1:22 AM
Leigh Woosey said:
You should probably credit the source of this cartoon- http://xkcd.com/ . It has a few more cartoons dealing with gender, academia and technology, if you click through the archives.
Posted on 19 February 2008 at 10:45 AM
Cara said:
Ha. Love it.
Abby, yeah, would need a bit more weight to be me too. :-)
I was one of about 3 girls to 15 or so boys in A-level maths, chemistry and physics. To be fair, there was very little sexism. I remember not getting something in physics and getting my worst mark ever for homework, the response from others was not "girls are crap" but "oh well, it is difficult". (Maybe cos it WAS a difficult topic that a lot of others struggled with though.) But I never felt there was any sexism.
Hmm. Not that my experience goes for every school...the fact that there were so few girls was concerning. I wasn't complaining ;-) well actually I was, the boys who took science were all geeks, but then I was seen as one of the lads...sigh...the makings of an embryonic feminist.
Posted on 19 February 2008 at 11:24 AM
Lorna said:
This comic makes me so happy. I'm a female maths Phd student and no one has ever acknowledged that this type of thing goes on. Tho' to be fair to the world of maths, I have not witnessed this phenomenom since I was an undergraduate.
Posted on 19 February 2008 at 1:43 PM
Damon said:
Thanks Lynne, I get it now :]
Posted on 19 February 2008 at 5:43 PM
Matt said:
This is just to echo Leigh's comment suggesting attribution. Xkcd is really very good. Some of the cartoons make amusing but sincere feminist comment and others are just amazingly sweet.
And thanks for enabling comments guys, I've read for a while and regretted not being able to comment quickly.
Posted on 19 February 2008 at 7:47 PM