Chicks and IQ

Went to the library last night for a community forum about energy policy. It was a terribly interesting conversation, and stimulated us to walk to the grocery store later that night rather than drive. That's not what I want to talk about, though.

After the grocery store, we watched an episode of Eureka. For those who don't know, it's a Sci-Fi Channel original series about a secret government-run town full of geniuses who do crazy & awesome research...which occasionally goes badly and makes for a good episode. The main character is Sheriff Jack Carter, a former US Marshall who ends up in town. He's pretty much an everyman, and watching him struggle in a town full of geniuses is a lot of the comedy of the show. In the last episode, one of the side plots is that the high school students were given IQ tests. Carter tells his daughter Zoe not to worry about -- the genes run well in the family: "I got a 111. Didn't even study. Got better than 100%."

At the end of the episode, Zoe gets her results. Carter assures her he loves her no matter what her IQ. She got a 153 (way, way above genius level -- and something like 4 std deviations from the norm, Eric tells me, meaning in the top 100th of 1% -- anyway), but she tells her dad she got a 112. He hugs her, tells her "great job! You did your dad one better."

I don't mind Carter's character here...he's everything he should be: supportive, loving, not pissed that his daughter is smarter than he is. But the more I think about this, the more it bugs me. The TV producers create a female character...who's clearly smart and also has a ton of personality and interest... who deliberately dumbs herself down in an attempt to fit in better and gain acceptance.

Wow, if that's not exactly the story of "Why There Aren't More Girls in Math and Science"... and I just think it's an irresponsible way to play her story. I guess that was a lot of build up for very little rant, but I'm not furious about it...just... a bit distressed that they went there.