I asked Amy Parness, the co-founder of Sparkle Labs, maker of fantastic educational electronics kits, to write a Medium post about gender and the business of being a maker business person. Her terrific essay calls out the problems with “pink girly engineering kits.” From Medium:
Recently, there has been a wave of pink-washed engineering kits involving tiaras, dolls, and other traditionally girly things, with science lessons hidden inside them. Maybe, for people who do not see the value of STEM learning, this is one way to get the lessons into little girls’ hands. But does differentiating girls’ aesthetics just perpetuate the sexism already present in American culture?
“Rethinking Pink: A New Feminine Aesthetic in Tech Toys for Girls”
And of course, be sure to check out Sparkle Labs!
Previously:
Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories’ Lenore Edman on women in maker culture