Actress Danica McKellar, who played Winnie Cooper on the Wonder Years and Elsie Snuffin on The West Wing, is a big mathematics fan. She’s a co-author of a proof for a theorem and offers mathematics advice on her Web site (which unfortunately uses frames so the first link will look like it’s missing something).
I just read an article about McKellar’s new book for girls, “Math Doesn’t Suck”:
In 2007, Hudson Street Press will publish Danica McKellar’s forthcoming book “Math Doesn’t Suck,” a groundbreaking book that uses hip and entertaining examples to teach middle-school girls and their parents how to master many of the tough concepts that are introduced in middle school – the time when young girls begin to shy away from math.
This sounds like a great book! And it’s a big plus that it’s being written by an actress which should help break the stereotype of math being uncool or unhip. Every once in a while I read a message from a techie woman who’s just discovered that actress Hedy Lamarr co-invented spread spectrum technology, a fundamental part of cellular and wireless networks today. The messages typically express how great it was to discover Lamar’s accomplishments, but sadness that they didn’t find out about this until years after she passed away. I think there’s just something about the glamour of the movies and science that, when mixed together, just seem inspiring. It’s great that in McKellar we have someone who’s currently active as both an actress and a mathematician!
As I was looking for references for this blog entry, I saw a bunch of references to McKellar’s advocacy for girls in science. She was recently a speaker at Stanford’s Women in Mathematics Forum), she’s been interviewed a few times about her interest in math, and she gave a speech in response to a congressional committee’s report on trying to attract more women and minorities to science, engineering, and technology. Here’s an excerpt from that last link:
I have had my share of run-ins with not fitting the “stereotype” of a scientifically-minded young woman. Every day, people approach me, and recognize me for my portrayal of the character “Winnie Cooper” on the television series “The Wonder Years.” And every day people ask me what I am doing now. When I tell them I took a break from acting in order to attend college, they inevitably ask what my major was. When I tell them “math”… Mouths drop open…mixed with stares of horror and confusion… usually followed by a looks of intrigue and newfound respect, but always the incredulous, “Why…?” They were not expecting that to come from me, since I do not fit among the ever popular stereotypical images of math nerds. (At least that’s what I like to think.)
Even more telling, was an experience I had in the 9th grade.
After our first test, my science teacher pulled me aside and expressed surprise at my high score, exclaiming how unexpected it was that I would be a good student in science. “You just seem so outgoing and you wear such brightly colored earrings… I just didn’t think you would be very smart.” All based on appearances, the teacher was judging me according to the stereotypes that are so deeply ingrained in our society: the socially inept, nerdy looking guy who doesn’t care about fashion. Here’s the most interesting part.
The teacher was a woman.
Go Danica! Wait, I seem to have written just that for another Danica not long ago … ;-)
16 responses so far ↓
1 Jesses jasme // Jul 19, 2006 at 04:52 PM
This example is another chance to understand the root cause of sexism.
When did the women’s movement start? After the sexual liberation of the 1960s. When sex is no longer the reward system of capitalism–(men who worked for the company get sexual access, poor men were humiliated by women)–then there is no reason to exclude women from institutions of power.
After women entered the academy, there was change in the Feminist position, it was suddently OK to be sexually choosy and serious about law school at the same time. Women restarted the sexual reward system of inequality, while limiting the number of men who could afford to support a woman. This created deep resentment, and FEMINIST MEN especially felt betrayed –(watching the female grad student in Women’s Studies going off to marry a rich lawyer=that is enough to start World War III). Now, where were the Feminist Men? In the academy. Scientists are not stupid. Science was originally a haven for men who did not want to participate in the sexual rat race. It was the one place where ugly men could work hard and succeed–(preachers must be handsome to gain a female congregation). They don’t want women inserting sexual competiton into the field. Who would really want to be treated at a hospital in which all of the doctors were involved in bitter love triangles?
So, if women want equality and respect, they must stop rewarding the handsome with sex and punishing manual laborers with hate-filled looks. All injustice can be eliminated by requiring that women marry someone chosen randomly from a hat. Then, respect of one’s peers will come entirely from one’s accomplishments.
2 jennyw // Jul 24, 2006 at 08:01 AM
Suggesting that you can liberate women by forcing them to marry is like saying you can prevent forest fires by burning down forests. Of course, we live in a country with a president that thinks that way … sigh.
3 b3th // Jun 28, 2007 at 10:34 PM
4 Whitney Bradshaw // Mar 24, 2008 at 03:10 PM
5 Alfonzo Dorsey // Apr 18, 2008 at 09:20 AM
6 Kandy Norton // Apr 21, 2008 at 01:17 AM
7 Dylan Shepherd // Jun 17, 2008 at 01:01 PM
8 zduxqylut // Jun 18, 2008 at 04:24 PM
9 booty // Jun 29, 2008 at 01:16 PM
10 xyphaxcad // Jul 12, 2008 at 11:34 PM
11 petite // Jul 18, 2008 at 01:05 PM
12 natural // Aug 15, 2008 at 04:30 PM
13 braless // Aug 27, 2008 at 12:38 AM
14 xefenalg // Sep 05, 2008 at 08:54 AM
15 cixomr // Oct 02, 2008 at 04:26 PM
16 afynkisuqn // Oct 09, 2008 at 11:10 AM
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