Salomé
meh
- Joined
- Sep 25, 2008
- Messages
- 10,527
- MBTI Type
- INTP
- Enneagram
- 5w4
- Instinctual Variant
- sx/sp
So the “Are women fish?†thread reminded me of something I read in this book (recommended by the Sponge).
It cites research that demonstrates how women who excel in traditionally male domains can end up 'discarding' their femininity as something which is incongruous with their chosen profession. And that this seems to be a somewhat unconscious process - a way of reconciling the cognitive dissonance created by jarring implicit associations (e.g. "Women suck at math", "I don't suck at math" ergo, "I am not a woman".)
That the more obvious conclusion ("Women don't suck at math") is not the one that is reached, is testament to the power of implicit associations on the unconscious mind. This 'identity surgery' seems to be a (partially successful) strategy for overcoming "stereotype threat" - the tendency of individuals to underperform in accord with prevailing stereotypes (of race/gender/etc).
What we believe and what we think we believe are not necessarily in harmony.
So I want to ask Female Ts: does any of this resonate? Do you feel you’ve had to compromise or camouflage your femininity to fit into your chosen profession/field of study? Can you identify with this idea of casting elements of your identity overboard in pursuit of your ambitions? Do you see a conflict between being feminine and being taken seriously in your field? Or perhaps you feel you never identified strongly with typically feminine interests in the first place?
Any other response to the material welcomed.
I'd like to restrict participation to FEMALE Ts ONLY please.
It cites research that demonstrates how women who excel in traditionally male domains can end up 'discarding' their femininity as something which is incongruous with their chosen profession. And that this seems to be a somewhat unconscious process - a way of reconciling the cognitive dissonance created by jarring implicit associations (e.g. "Women suck at math", "I don't suck at math" ergo, "I am not a woman".)
That the more obvious conclusion ("Women don't suck at math") is not the one that is reached, is testament to the power of implicit associations on the unconscious mind. This 'identity surgery' seems to be a (partially successful) strategy for overcoming "stereotype threat" - the tendency of individuals to underperform in accord with prevailing stereotypes (of race/gender/etc).
What we believe and what we think we believe are not necessarily in harmony.
So I want to ask Female Ts: does any of this resonate? Do you feel you’ve had to compromise or camouflage your femininity to fit into your chosen profession/field of study? Can you identify with this idea of casting elements of your identity overboard in pursuit of your ambitions? Do you see a conflict between being feminine and being taken seriously in your field? Or perhaps you feel you never identified strongly with typically feminine interests in the first place?
Any other response to the material welcomed.
I'd like to restrict participation to FEMALE Ts ONLY please.