10/10/2015
Girls Only Tuesday
October 13th and 27th
From _Tinkering_ by Curt Gabrielson
The main reason we do this is to give girls a time when the Workshop is theirs, a time when they don’t have to compete with boys for space and attention. If boys come in, we tell them to come back after the girls’ session is over. The boys often react with a whine, “When is Boys Workshop?” to which we respond, “We don’t need a Boys Workshop.”
This is reality: every day boys are encouraged by society and media to engage in activities such as taking things apart, fixing things, operating tools and machinery, designing and building things with their hands, finding solutions to mechanical or electrical or scientific problems, pursuing technical degrees, and entering technical careers. Girls are often encouraged to avoid these things or, at the very least, they are assumed to have no interest in them. Thus, while many boys feel at home in a workshop environment, girls often must go through a critical realization in which they shift their thinking to include Workshop activities within the realm of positive and doable. And fun.[6] We do everything possible to facilitate that critical realization. It often takes place together with a bunch of friends.
We put some effort into making our project models look attractive to girls (frilly decorations, such as ribbons and pompoms, and plenty of pink), but we are clear in our understanding that girls can and do enjoy every project that boys do, including hydraulic systems, electric cars, rockets, and even model toilets. Thus, there exist no “girl projects” in the Workshop, and we encourage girls to choose from all the projects available. We also encourage boys to learn to knit, sew, and do bead work. We also make a conscious effort to see and hear the girls in the Workshop every day, so for instance, if six kids are screaming for help, we’ll take care of the girls first, with the knowledge that the boys are much more likely to return even if they get frustrated and leave.
A little Rube Goldberg video inspiration
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIGyVa5Xftw
About us: http://www.goldieblox.com/pages/about We're GoldieBlox, a toy company out to show the world that girls deserve more choices than dolls and princess...
