NEW YORK – Girls swept a prestigious high school science competition for the first time Monday, winning top prizes of $100,000 scholarships for their work on potential tuberculosis cures and bone growth in zebrafish.
It was the first time girls had ever won the grand prizes in both the team and individual divisions of the Siemens Competition in Math, Science and Technology.
Exhibit B (From Melissa at Shakesville):
Almost exactly one year ago to the day, I wrote about the Discovery Channel Store’s curious gender segregation—and, this morning, I got an email from Shaker Mariah complaining of the same thing. In other words, another year passes, and it’s still Same Shit, Different Day.
[…]
The first five items offered for girls ages 8-12 are:
~ Rainbow In My Room
~ Discovery Sew Fun Sewing Machine
~ Discovery Pink Slide and Text Messengers (“Chat with your friends wirelessly and transmit text messages up to 15′ away.”)
~ Discovery Diamond Dust Microscope
~ Discovery Fashion Design Studio
What a “Fashion Design Studio” has to do with science is something I cannot explain to you.
Click through to see the difference between the boys‘ and girls‘ microscopes.
OK, I know that the Discovery Channel is a symptom, not a cause. For all of their noble rhetoric, they’re just another entertainment company with a retail operation that’s trying to make a buck from cheap Chinese imports with bling. But it’s still frustrating.