I believe I mentioned this years ago -- I headed into "junior high" quite a whiz in science. In seventh grade, I was pushed ahead in most of my courses, and took Chemistry, which was a cinch. My final exam grade was something like 110. But the following year, Biology became a whole different story. My private school had hired a science teacher from Indonesia, and there was nothing wrong with that; he was undoubtedly a good scientist and teacher. However, his first language was not English, and none of us could understand him! Literally, not a word. Biology is so word- and concept-based that this was disastrous. I did what was common at the time for teenage girls; I had a little hissy fit and declared that from thenceforth, I would focus on the arts and literature, not science or math. I'm sure that for me, that was what was meant to happen in this lifetime, but still, it is too bad.
So, on principal, I am glad that girls are now encouraged to move through that 11- or 12-year-old hump, and stick with the sciences. I'm interested in the ads and public service announcements that encourage girls in "STEM", the Saturday morning educational shows featuring young women pursuing science, technology, engineering and mathematics careers, and the prevalence of women experts on public television's science shows.
Do I have reservations? Yes. Foremost among them is my concern that these disciplines are very heavily informed by dualistic thinking and conflict. And while this doesn't guarantee that a scholar's research might eventually lead to the actual creation of weapons, that outcome (and new developments that harm the environment even further) are all-too-possible when technology way outpaces spiritual growth. As ever, we are putting the cart before the horse. Plus, I think "how the universe works" will be seen very differently -- and possibly work very differently -- within the next few decades.
It would be so lovely if women were encouraged to be whatever it is that they are truly meant to be, without any reference to the needs of corporations or institutions. I get it -- girls hardly wish to end up in my boat, having gifts and strengths that don't pay the bills. Their parents probably find this kind of outcome even less palatable. But that is the weakness of this dying paradigm, not of the young people who are musicians, artists, dancers, poets, or mystics at heart. As we move further into the emerging new age, these arts and spirituality "careers" will be more highly respected, and better supported. (Whether there will be any such thing as money is another story...! I don't believe it will be necessary once love becomes the currency.)
I have this hunch that the occupations women have had to fight the hardest to enter are the very ones that are still too one-sided to survive the coming changes. If I had a daughter (and sadly, I don't), I would encourage her to try to align with her passion, whatever it is. But I'd also want to help her stay afloat, hard when you can barely do it yourself! If she rejected my path because engineering thrilled her, I would be happy. But if she and I were able to work together in attempting to model/construct a more Goddess-centered world, that would be even better. Doing the impossible together always beats doing it alone!
I have images of educational TV programs chronicling the life and studio time of young oil painters, the hours of practice of young musicians, the hours of silence, reading, and contemplation of budding mystics...
