this post was submitted on 05 Nov 2025
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Science Memes

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[–] Nefara@lemmy.world 30 points 6 days ago (3 children)

I have a female friend in STEM who has dealt with an immense amount of misogyny in her field. She's been the only woman in the room more times than she can keep track of. She has achieved a lot academically, but feels a pressure to conform to a standard of behavior set by men. She loves pink, collects dolls, paints her nails and is unabashedly feminine, and has suffered real social and professional consequences for her gender presentation. It's literally an act of bravery for her to go to work in a soft fuzzy pink sweater.

I get that the question here is implying that either all little girls are so obsessed with pretty sparkly things that the lack of it would be a detractor, or that it's reductive to assume that they would and that femininity can take many forms. However, it's a valid desire to want to do a thing and be accepted for how you are. If a little girl does love pink and glitter and all classically coded feminine things, seeing someone like you in STEM blazing that trail and making a place for you, is just as validating as seeing other minorities in admirable positions. Representation matters.

[–] khannie@lemmy.world 10 points 6 days ago

I have a female friend in STEM who has dealt with an immense amount of misogyny in her field.

That's really fucking depressing :(

[–] Eq0@literature.cafe 6 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

I will add my own story. Woman, in STEM, I mostly don’t care about what I wear, but sometimes I want to rock it just because. Put on make up, do my nails, wear a skirt. I kept that out of the office until I moved to a department with a flourishing gay community. If they can wear nail polish and skirts, so can I! I’m still usually the only woman in any given room, but maybe not the only one with fancy nails.

As a counterpoint, for a while I was the fanciest dressing person of the department because none of my T-shirts had holes 😒 also got told, jokingly, to not overdo it the one time I wore a shirt.