| Title: | Topics of Interest to Women |
| Notice: | V3 is closed. TURRIS::WOMANNOTES-V5 is open. |
| Moderator: | REGENT::BROOMHEAD |
| Created: | Thu Jan 30 1986 |
| Last Modified: | Fri Jun 30 1995 |
| Last Successful Update: | Fri Jun 06 1997 |
| Number of topics: | 1078 |
| Total number of notes: | 52352 |
I didn't mind the beating..(I guess); it would have been less embarrassing if I wasn't in lecture mode when it happened. 'Chrissy..this is the Stonewall attack...see how white posts its king bishop on queen 3.. bearing down a long diagonal at blacks potential castled position ect..ect .. ad nauseam. Well the little lady (16) turned the tables on me somewhere; freed up her cramped position as black and exploded into mine;checkmating me in a most breathtaking fashion. Why do I bring it up at all? Why not in the chess notes file? Well Chess is a game many (males mostly) believe women can't play well. Many who play it believe its more than a game...see it as sheer intellectual activity and as such consider it an index of intellect.From that assumption coupled with women can't play...well...you can see the illogical conclusion coming, can't you? When I was actively playing the general comments concerning women's relationship to the 'game of games' were along the lines of: . Its a war game...women hate that . Its a game of logic...women can't do that . It requires long periods of sustained concentration...women don't do that . the only nation with many women players is the Soviet Union With hardly any at the highest (grandmaster) levels Such was the bigotry at the time (and may still be). I think the same bigotry is in math and engineering and probably still is. For any of you dads out there who are hesitant to teach your daughters chess; do it and prepare yourself for some surprises. Don't use the Stonewall attack...Christina feels it flawed as an opening as it blocks whites own queen bishops development and all black has to do is wait an opportunity to force exchanges and free up position and then its white with the cramped position.You'd think she would have interrupted dad's lecture to warn him wouldn't you? I invite your comments...can women play? You bet they can! MAC
| T.R | Title | User | Personal Name | Date | Lines |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 349.1 | Did I confuse this? | WMOIS::MACMILLAN | Wed Sep 05 1990 15:16 | 35 | |
The issues I was trying to raise were obscured by the style used in the base note. My apologies. One of the clearest prejudices directed towards women concerns logical-mathematical reasoning abilities. My example of my daughters chess playing abilities was an effort to highlight the absurdity of such bigotries. Interestingly enough her abilities in this arena have surprised the males in our family (including myself and an uncle who's still bringing up his defeat at her hands last year) bringing us face to face with our own prejudices in this area. The chess world prejudices that existed when her uncle and I were active in the game were highlighted in the base note. I feel these prejudices are really a carry over from the more general perception that women are generally more intuitive rather than rational-logical. Just stating the obvious: that this bigotry existed serves little purpose; but if such bigotries are denying us mathematicians and engineers in this time when such people are critical...then perhaps its worthy of discussion. Are women still buying into rationales suggesting that they aren't logical or mathematical? Are young women being subtly and not so subtly turned off to opportunities in these fields? One other line I'd like to pursue (if there's and interest) is: Is there such a thing as differing approaches along sexual lines to logical or mathematical problems? If so, do we favor one over the other in academia? MAC | |||||
| 349.2 | Its FUN!! | RANGER::PEASLEE | Wed Sep 05 1990 16:20 | 13 | |
Re: .0, this is an interesting topic.
I am teaching my stepdaughter to play Chess. Oftentimes when she
stays with us, she'll take out the Chess board, set it up and
challenge me to a game. She knows the fundamental moves for all
the pieces. When we play, after she makes a move, I will show
her the consequences of the move. I'll say to her - if you do (x)
move, then your opponent can do (a, b, or c) moves. This way she
sees the consequences of her actions.
She seems very excited about learning the game.
I have always enjoyed Chess, primarily for the logical reasoning
abilities required. I remember in high school eons ago, the Chess
Club had two women in it. I hope things have changed since then.
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