"Women hate science"

so yeah on PlentyOfFish.com, which is this online dating site, whenever you message a woman you're presented with "top ten least favorite topics for women"

among them are politics, science, and science-fiction

anyway, I'm posting this thread more as a question than anything else, because I call bull♥♥♥♥

not only is it stupidly stereotyping an entire sex, I have too much faith in humanity to think that half of the world's population doesn't give a rat's ass about politics and science, the two things that shape our world, our lifestyles, and our futures moreso than anything else (now I'm not talking about being heavily knowledgeable about politics and science, but at least being up-to-date with what's going on in the world; if you don't care about what's going on in the world, you really have no place in it, do you?)

so anyway why might this be; what sort of pseudo-research may they have used to come up with such a list, and is this a major/commonly-held opinion

because dear nonexistent god, i hope not

maybe it was as simple as interviewing women and coming up with the answers based on the most answered. after all, most people in general don't really care about science or politics. it's easy for people to pretend to care about politics. "oh i like that ron paul guy!" or "i just don't like that obama fellow" - but really, the average person seems to be pretty politically and scientifically ignorant regardless of sex. =/

edit: also since it's a dating site, maybe they'te referring to the topics women don't want to discuss on a date.

Sounds like it is just the large majority of female members who took part in that particular poll and did not rate those topics as highly.

It's hardly a representative of all women, or stereotyping.

Also, to bring a generalisation into to it: my sister studies medical science, and may want to make a future career out of it but she likes to keep her work separate from her social life. So, perhaps those who do actually take interest in stem subjects are creating bias in such polls for similar reasons.

Nope.


Of course people won't be interested in those topics when they are looking for someone they can ♥♥♥♥. It's not like there are many people who want to discuss the War in Afghanistan or Quantum physics while getting ♥♥♥♥ed in the ass.

^unless you're into that kind of thing.

I think what they're saying is that, in the context of this site, it's not a good idea to discuss these things right away with women. It's not an ice breaker and it's not going to be very interesting to most people. That doesn't mean they have no interest, just that it's not a great thing to open a conversation with.

They're trying to give you tips on how to better interact with women.

I don't think they are representing any sort of misogynistic view point on womens' intelligence. POF gives all kinds of suggestions, it even tells you where you might want to schedule a date with people.

Yeah, but those people are a tiny minority.

Originally Posted by Dovahkiin

Nope.


Of course people won't be interested in those topics when they are looking for someone they can ♥♥♥♥. It's not like there are many people who want to discuss the War in Afghanistan or Quantum physics while getting ♥♥♥♥ed in the ass.

it's a dating website, not /soc/

It may also be that women are taught that science is moreso "man's territory" and that they should focus more on being pretty than being educated.

Discussing politics on a first date is just a no-no. Its like discussing religion, its just not very comfortable to talk about with a stranger. (unless yer all Christian Mingle up in here.)

Science Fiction? Thats weird. Maybe some women actually think thats "what geeky guys like and ewww and junk! No geeks!" Which i think to be lame. (I have met women who think like this though. My boyfriend's ex was one of them.)

As for science in general....again really odd. You'd think math and sports would be on the tops there.

If I were to approach a woman for the first time with the intent of dating her, my first choice of topic would not come from statistically-relevant peer-reviewed scientific literature*.

Now I do think that later on that might be a problem to stereotype like that, but to get women interested in you as a person, I think it might make you appear more attractive to not bring up science as a general rule of thumb.

Stereotyping can be bad, but this isn't one of those cases.




*Unless, of course, that literature happens to be Journal of Anatomy.

Originally Posted by Andross

so yeah on PlentyOfFish.com, which is this online dating site, whenever you message a woman you're presented with "top ten least favorite topics for women"

among them are politics, science, and science-fiction

Okay, so first of all, it would be interesting to see where this data comes from, and what sort of questions were asked. it makes a difference whether women were explicitly asked "what is your least favorite thing to talk about" or whether men and women were explicitly asked "what is your favorite thing to talk about?" and then the frequency of certain key words was measured in mens' lists against what was measured in womens' lists; in other words, if it is proportional based on gender.

in the second case, it would less be "women do not like to talk about science" and more likely be "women did not put science on a list of things they would want to talk about." for instance, I probably would not put "real estate" on a list of things I would like to talk about, but that does not mean that I do not want to talk to you about real estate.

so before we can make implications about the statistics, it's important to know what the questions asked were.

Originally Posted by Andross

not only is it stupidly stereotyping an entire sex, I have too much faith in humanity to think that half of the world's population doesn't give a rat's ass about politics and science, the two things that shape our world, our lifestyles, and our futures moreso than anything else

"not wanting to talk about something on a date or in the in-site chatbox" does not necessarily mean I don't give a rat's ass about a topic.

while I can't account for science fiction, politics and science can be hot-button issues and sources for disagreement. I don't really want to talk about whether or not 9/11 was an inside job over dinner, and the scientific implications of releasing the data on the deadly super-transmittable avian flu strain is not exactly what I would consider pillow talk. talking about these things on dates can be unbelievable tiresome, and moreso if you're just getting to know the person. small differences in opinion can be alienating.

Originally Posted by Andross

(now I'm not talking about being heavily knowledgeable about politics and science, but at least being up-to-date with what's going on in the world; if you don't care about what's going on in the world, you really have no place in it, do you?)

this is more of a subjective question than anything, actually, and don't take for granted that everyone will believe you. some would say that happiness and wisdom are only attainable when you divorce yourself from the average goings on of the day to say. if someone isolates him or herself in a cabin and lives at peace with nature, avoiding the newspapers, I don't really have a problem with it. people can be as worldly as they want. the world is very big, and trying to fit it all into your head: all the enormity in pain and genocide, all the infinity that life has to offer, can be burdensome, possibly unnecessarily so. life is eating, sleeping, and sometimes ♥♥♥♥ing. it can be as complicated or as simple as you want to make it, and some people prefer the simple.

this might be horribly controversial of me to say, but if you want to be ignorant of world events, as long as you're not in office, teaching my children or planning on blowing anyone up, I won't stop you.

Originally Posted by Apple Jack

It may also be that women are taught that science is moreso "man's territory" and that they should focus more on being pretty than being educated.

Ugh, I can't believe I'm getting into this topic about gendering, but here we go:

First and foremost I'm going to say while I believe educational gendering exists, you're misrepresenting it and probably overstating it. Science/technology/whatever is generally more populated by men, but I think this has less to do with society screaming at women to "GO HOME AND RAISE THE KIDS, SCIENCE IS FOR MEN WITH BRAINS" and is more related to far subtler influences of gendering.

Second of all, while the first part of your statement kind of has a grain of truth to it, the second does not. Women are getting college educations; women are getting college educations more than men are this year, for the first time ever. I don't know where you're getting the "they should focus more on being pretty than being educated" because access to higher education has been pretty much the greatest victory for the feminist movement in the last two decades. society is not telling us that it's more important to be pretty than to be smart: society is telling us to be smart! finally! go society! etc.

I agree it's probably a load of ♥♥♥♥, but when you think about it, how many girls/women do you know that enjoy Star Trek/Star Wars?

Originally Posted by Skull_Kid

I agree it's probably a load of ♥♥♥♥, but when you think about it, how many girls/women do you know that enjoy Star Trek/Star Wars?

A lot.
Fandom overall seems to default everyone to male (especially on the internet, but Livejournal seems to be an exception), but that doesn't mean there aren't girls fangasming over these things.
Personally, I love science fiction, but I can't really get into either Star Trek or Star Wars specifically.

On a side note, all of my best science teachers have been female.

Sounds pretty dumb lol. I can look around and tell you that it's not true. No need for fancy statistics.

Sure I know a few ladies that don't like science. But I know just as many, if not more, guys who don't.

It's also just as possible that women hate scientists, who as we all know, are nothing but liars.

They're probably just pissed.

Originally Posted by Skull_Kid

I agree it's probably a load of ♥♥♥♥, but when you think about it, how many girls/women do you know that enjoy Star Trek/Star Wars?

Hi, name's Shinobi, pleased to meet you. While I don't know all of them, I know the class of a lot of different Star Trek ships, and I've got most of the OT Star Wars movies memorized. I know how to fix computers. I also like romance stories and manga, and the color pink.

There, now you know at least one.

The stereotype that women don't like science is a sad thing. A lot of women grow to dislike it because of lack of exposure as children or because they hear that women don't usually do that kind of stuff, and they grow up to perpetuate the cycle.

My sister is taking Neurology Physiology and Biomechanics at UC Davis, I write poetry and cry.

Stereotype isn't true though, I wish it was. Or at least, that someone would argue that.

This has already been mentioned in this thread, but in the context of a dating site, these results aren't surprising simply because women "suck" at science, I think it's mostly because these aren't things women generally like discussing with potential partners.

I think some gender roles are at play here as well, after all, women are incredibly underrepresented in fields like science, engineering, and math (though certainly not nonexistent!)

Originally Posted by Skull_Kid

I agree it's probably a load of ♥♥♥♥, but when you think about it, how many girls/women do you know that enjoy Star Trek/Star Wars?

while this is a gaming-based internet website and not a representative of the general female population--you are more likely to find female science fiction fans here than most other places, for instance, so the % of ZU girls who like Stat Trek/Star Wars will not representative of the average--I'm going to call bull♥♥♥♥ here.

because most of the girls I have ever met--nerdy or non-nerdy--like Star Wars. I guess Star Trek is another matter, though, because despite the one recent movie it's seen less revival and is still somewhat more fringe.

also! Star Wars? Science fiction? It's clearly a fantasy that takes place in outer space