Just do the math

People often ask where girls get the idea that they aren’t supposed to be able to do math. Maybe it’s a feminist conspiracy and little girls don’t really think this about themselves. If girls are getting this message, it must be through subtle innuendo that we blow out of proportion. And surely most parents don’t think that they are biasing their princesses to a calculation challenged future. Or do they? Just walk down the street. The other day I did so in what most people consider a (perhaps overly) liberal, wealthy, educated town and went into a yuppie baby clothes store. Browsing amongst the organic, free-trade, renewable fiber, fancy-dinner-priced one and two pieces, I stopped in my tracks. There, neatly displayed on the wall was a pink girl’s outfit that said something along the lines of “Don’t blame me, girls can’t do math.” I was disgusted at myself for buying something from this store, but I really needed a baby shower gift pronto. So while I was checking out I said that I thought most of their stuff was really cute, but it was unfortunate that they sold that girl’s outfit. The cashier said, “Yeah …. But people love it. It sells.” Exactly. And every time someone laughs at the shirt, it reinforces the ideology ... from day 1 of the person's life.