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>To me it's very strange, if you wanted to say "anyone can be a scientist/engineer regardless of sex" then surely you'd de-emphasise sex. It is because histori

>To me it's very strange, if you wanted to say "anyone can be a scientist/engineer regardless of sex" then surely you'd de-emphasise sex. It is because historically there has been a tendency for the contributions of women to be actively de-emphasized by most, that some work to re-emphasize. For sure the end-goal should be for us to reach a place where we just don't worry about it at all, but if over the last 50 years nobody had been actively talking and writing about women in science, many young women growing up would likely see very few examples they could relate to and be inspired by.

pbhjpbhj 8y ago
>many young women growing up would likely see very few examples they could relate to and be inspired by. // Is that how inspiration works for you, it's not for me. When I see an amazing achievement I don't think "oh, wait they're not my sex/race/nationality/height/eye-colour they can't inspire me". My greatest inspiration at school as a pubescent male was probably a near-retirement woman, because of her passion and knowledge of her subject, her sex being immaterial to that ... am I especially peculiar in this. Sure, you want a diverse roster of characters to study, but exaggerating achievements because past politics or societal mores don't conform to your preference seems asinine to me. [PS thanks for responding, I really appreciate conversation on this as so many appear to hold contra positions that I can't discern the logic of.]