Lego retrograde

From here:

Are we really living in 2013? The Lego ads from the 1980s seem more modern to me.

Now it's a gendered, bubblegum-pink sexist campaign geared to girly-girls - and most certainly NOT girly-boys!

 

Indeed.  My physician daughter, who in many ways (clothing choices, for one) resembled the child in the advertisement above, had her own Lego sets in the 1980s, as well as the full collection of the daring and exciting adventures of Yoko Tsuno, a female electrical engineer of Japanese ancestry.  That's not the only reason she pursued a career in science; strong female role models in her families, as well as the encouragement of her grand-papa supported her ambition as well. 

At least Google had an important reminder today about women in science: the 366th birthday of entomologist and scientific illustrator Maria Sibylla Merian. 

Grand merci to my fuzzy buddy who RTed the above link!

Scouts Honour

Walking the talk, the Girl Scouts of Colorado have calmly opened themselves up to fire from the religious right by standing firm on inclusivity in their ranks. A male-bodied 7 year old who has identified as female-spirited since age 2 has joined the state org's membership.

It's not like the Girl Scouts aren't already considered the scions of Satan by theocratic conservatives but expect this to bring on more shrieking and juxtaposition with the Christian patriarchy stronghold of the Boy Scouts of America.

What I found bonus enjoyable is this specific case's parental positivity on having a child not fitting gender norms. Given the recent fecal matter storms of virulently negative commentary by people aggressively invested in gender norms over previous instances of gender nonconformity for kids, it's obviously still an act of adult courage to step up for the child who the patriarchal system will brutally attempt to crush otherwise.

I'm always morbidly amused by the commentors who declare the parent in these stories is the cruel party, not making their child lie and hide so bullies can't pick on them. Sanity forbid anyone should have to put in the effort to stop the bully children from being the enforcers and plausible deniability distancing from an adult-instilled and *approved* system that Kills Children everywhere every day.

You *go*, Girl Scouts and Girl Guides. I salute you from my thin-mint cookie crumb covered desk.

When Headlines Become the Story.

Observe how different information gathering media set the spin on a story with words selected to communicate the essence of that news item - from their own particular perspective.

Here's a scrum of headlines about the findings of a scientific research project.

'Traders' testosterone' fuels female financial flutters

Testosterone May Guide Women's Careers

Testosterone-Charged Women Take More Financial and Career Risks

Ruthless women have extra testosterone, scientists show

Risky women are 'hungry for sex'

Male hormone draws women to finance

When women are bad, it's a male thing

Men less risk averse, pick riskier careers

Interestingly enough, a short opinion piece for The Wall Street Journal blogs did not focus on gender implications but rather on the effect high levels testosterone bring.

Was the Financial Crisis Caused by Hormones?

Forget whether fat bonuses or the lack of regulation encouraged undue risk taking during the credit-fueled boom. It seems risk may run in Wall Street’s blood.

The evidence? A recent study from researchers at business schools at Northwestern and the University of Chicago concludes that testosterone levels play a big role in a person’s proclivity to take financial risks.

The study, being published today in the academic journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, concludes that biology– not just society or culture drives individuals to pursue financially riskier careers and make riskier decisions. In the study, researchers analyzed the saliva of 500 MBA students at U-Chicago’s Booth School of Business and put the students through certain games. They determinted that men, who typically have higher levels of testoterone, were willing to take greater risks than women. ...

Interestingly, the researchers found that female students with higher testosterone levels also were willing to take more risks.

“We are saying that testosterone, which is a biological marker, rather then gender, makes them take more risks,’’ one of the study’s co-authors Paola Sapienza, Associate Professor at Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management tells Deal Journal.

Slightly tweaking the words of The Byrds' song "There Is A Season":

For everything - spin, spin, spin
There is a reason - spin, spin, spin
And a time for every purpose under heaven.

Is gender an absolute M/F category?

South African athlete Caster Semenya is being scrutinized to determine whether she is "truly" a woman.

Semenya, a newcomer to high level competition, blew away her rivals with a dominant run in last night's track final in Berlin, but was already aware that she may have to return her gold medal if she fails a gender verification test.

Comments after the race from her beaten rivals emphasised the unpleasant situation in which she now finds herself. Russian Mariya Savinova, who came fifth, questioned Semenya's gender while Italy's Elisa Piccione, who finished sixth, was more damning. “For me, she is not a woman,” she said.

More about this.

How many forms have you completed that had two boxes - one male, the other female - for which you had to tick only one?

Post-birth the bodies of every human being at various stages of their development can produce female and male hormones - even though the blastocyte which can be affected by the hormones produced by pregnant women during the course of its development is either XX or XY.

But like the official forms that need to be completed when every baby is born, there are social and cultural institutions that require un-ambiguous categories. Such as sports competitions.

Olympic trivia: Anne the Princess Royal, only daughter of Elizabeth II, was not was obliged to submit to gender-testing when she competed in the 1976 Montreal Games.