Toys and Tools in Pink: Cultural Narratives of Gender, Science, and Technology

Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) programs work collaboratively to connect education and research at the institutional, national, and global levels. But what role do women play in STEM? In this very timely book, Carol Colatrella responds to the under-representation of women in STEM by considering how gender inflects literary and media representations. In her analysis of fictional and cinematic texts that reference STEM, she investigates cultural tensions concerning sex roles-tensions that continue to be influential in today's world. Toys and Tools in Pinkanalyzes female character types that recur in fictional narratives in print, on television, and in the cinema: female criminals and detectives, mothers who practice medicine, and "babe scientists," among others. It also investigates how narrative settings and plots both subsume and influence cultural stereotypes of gender in prescribing salient professional and personal codes of conduct in the STEM fields. Literary and historical case studies in Toys and Tools in Pinkexamine issues of women's abilities in, access to, and management of science and technology. These issues appear in debates among university faculty, politicians, and public policy analysts concerned about women's participation in STEM fields. Current analyses of diverse fictions and films demonstrate a continuing interest in women's place in science and technology and also create new, evolving understandings of femininity and masculinity that revise earlier stereotypes.

Author: Carol Colatrella
Publisher: Ohio State University Press
Published: 05/29/2015
Pages: 258
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.84lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.58d
ISBN: 9780814252307

About the Author

Carol Colatrella is a professor of literature and cultural studies in the School of Literature, Communication, and Culture, and Co-Director of the Center for the Study of Women, Science, and Technology, at the Georgia Institute of Technology.

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