Dear Kathleen:

>You caution women against falling
>into the "dumb blonde" mode, pleading
>ignorance of math as part of a misguided
>attempt to fit into their roles.

I do no such thing. I just quote a respected writer. I do believe, however, (as did Mattel) that the stereotype does exists.

>However, what do you advise those
>of us who desperately wanted to study
>math and were told by our high school
>advisors in the late 1950s that "Girl's don't
>need math," and thus were kept out of trig,
>advanced chemistry (in spite of straight As
>in advanced physics) and all the rest of
>math in high school?

First of all, stop being bitter. It's not helpful. The world is not perfect, and injuries and injusties happen all the time. Look at the bright side. The world, in this respect at least, has changed for the better. For example, visit GirlTECH.

>I and a lot of other women who
>were prevented from learning math in high
>school, but are on the brink of loving it
>anyway, would like to know how to
>catch up.

This is my belief that there is nothing to catch up. Most of the population (male and female alike) neither know nor like mathematics. Relax. If you are curious about mathematics, let's talk mathematics. The rest has nothing to do with it.

You managed to find my site. Good. Is there anything of interest to you? There are other places as well. The Web is immense. Hope you have enough time to enjoy yourself.

All the best,
Alexander Bogomolny

Copyright © 1996-2008 Alexander Bogomolny