Commercial Shows How We Keep Our Daughters Down

When my girls complain they “hate science,” it actually makes me cringe. Somehow, somewhere, science became a guy thing, and girls were directed to daintier pursuits, like typing, dieting and cupcake baking. Maybe it is all those big, bad chemicals with hard to decipher two letter codes, or those dangerous bunsen burners, or the smell of formaldehyde while a dissection is splayed open, or the possibility of getting dirty, but whatever it is, girls shy away from some of the most interesting, useful, diverse and rewarding careers, because they “hate science.” That’s like saying, “I hate food,” by the way. There are so many different branches of science, I’d argue it is impossible to hate them all.

I just came across this Verizon commercial, and I must share. What messages are we sending our girls from their first steps? Do we encourage them to explore, create and question or are we too busy telling them how beautiful they are? Take a look, and the next time you tell your daughter, “You are pretty,” add “amazing” to the end of that sentence.