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Girls, boys, science
Girls, Pink and Science: a study in sexism
By Joshua S. Hill
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
It was front page news the world over: "Pink for the girls!" Apparently a research conducted and led by Dr. Hurlbert and Yazhu Ling of the University of Newcastle upon Tyne found that there were "historical reasons" as to why women apparently like pink better. "The explanation might date back to humans' hunter-gatherer days, when women were the primary gatherers and would have benefited from an ability to hone in on ripe, red fruits," Anya Hurlbert, who led the team of researchers, said. "Culture may exploit and compound this natural female preference."
Thankfully, for those of us who are fans of the pink shirt and of the male sex, Ben Goldacre of Bad Science has taken time to look at what he believes is a study with "...some serious problems...".
Ben notes that the test -- conducted on 208 men and women -- was testing their preferences for colors, rather than their discriminative ability. He laughingly notes that "I am yet to be given evidence that my girlfriend has the upper hand in discriminating shades of red as we gambol foraging for the fruits of the forest."
He goes on to ask whether the apparent love of pink is a genetic or social norm, and points towards the makeup of the test subjects. Of the 208 people, the majority were white Caucasian Brits, with only 17% making up a Chinese bracket.
In his article, Goldacre notes the long held belief that girls prefer pink, is not all that long held at all, and I have to agree wholeheartedly. There is a trend in society today -- one that I am definitely part of -- that allows for men to wear pink shirts with abandon. In fact, pink is definitely becoming the color of choice for the successful business man.
The Ladies Home Journal in 1918 wrote: "There has been a great diversity of opinion on the subject, but the generally accepted rule is pink for the boy and blue for the girl. The reason is that pink being a more decided and stronger color is more suitable for the boy, while blue, which is more delicate and dainty, is prettier for the girl."
Pink is indeed a stronger color than blue, with it being linked to red, rather than blue and its links to colors such as mauve and lilac. The title of the website that Ben writes for is definitely right on the money, with this research definitely falling under the heading of 'bad science'.
Another recent article came to my attention, and spoke to the center of whether girls really do think "math is hard". My favorite podcast has long made fun of the stereotypical and chauvinistic view that girls think math is hard, with Buzz Out Loud hosts Molly Wood and the now Mahalo employed Veronica Belmont often quoting the ill-fated line whenever math reared its ugly head.
The staff over at Live Science have sat down and laid out 5 myths, with corresponding opposing data, to dispel the myth that girls do not like math or science. Myth One is my favorite, stating the view that
"From the time they start school, most girls are less interested in science than boys are." This is patently untrue, especially for a male who never really put his head down to work at school, and was most often outclassed my his female friends. A recent study of fourth graders showed that 66 percent of girls and 68 percent of boys reported liking science, said the staff from Live Science, but they go on to explain why it is that women are outnumbered in the fields of science, technology, engineering, math (STEM).
A full read of the article is needed, instead of just a rehash from me, so I'll leave it at that. But needless to say, in 2007, the chauvinistic approaches of a bygone era should be well dead and buried.
Joshua can be reached at: letters@canadafreepress.com
