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When I was a kid I loved dressing up and makeup, etc. My parents (thankfully) did not discourage this type of play, but did they encourage me to make a career o
by SMrF 16y ago
When I was a kid I loved dressing up and makeup, etc. My parents (thankfully) did not discourage this type of play, but did they encourage me to make a career out of this interest? No. Was there anything in society that pushed me, a straight male, towards this career? Not really. Instead, while I was playing with Barbie I was also telling everyone I wanted to be an aeronautical engineer, mainly because I liked paper airplanes.
Kids seek approval from adults, adults approved of my interest in engineering, not my interest in fashion. Is it a surprise that I majored in CS?
- nailer 16y agoYou do make a good point. Part of the reason I was attracted to my wife is an appreciation of the traditionally creative industries, something that's always held my interest - I use to buy a lot of fashion magazines as a kid, and I got started programming by doing architecture inside video games. I think that boys interested in the arts are often pushed towards 'manly' pursuits like architecture rather than traditionally soft skills like fashion design - my parents were this way, it yours seems yours were too. Now I'm 30, and I regret not engaging the creative part of my brain more readily. Perhaps we should be saying that girls who want to make stuff on computers should be encouraged to pursue that, just like boys who want to make clothes. No quotas, no 50% expectation, just encouragement for the kids who need it.