Mighty Girls in Science and Math--Where are They in Fiction?

I was just reading this morning a Time article questioning the lack of female role models working in the fields of math and science depicted in Hollywood films. Of course Hollywood still does a much better job than the film industry in my country (more on that in a later post). And it's true they are few enough. It's worse for children's films. Too often in film and fiction, the tough, smart, scientifically and mathematically inclined girl goes the way of Up's Ellie: She grows up to give up a career in any STEM field for homemaking.

It's the case for A Wrinkle in Time's Meg--When does she ever use her prowess in math in any of her adventures anyway? The first two books in the series focus on repairing her character flaws. Never does she make use of her mathematical genius and worse, when she grows up her brothers are a lawyer, doctor and scientist and she is a housewife assisting her scientist husband.

I loved science when I was a kid; so does my daughter. I have always read a lot of science articles and I find a good grasp of scientific principles is a great help in my writing both sci-fi and nonfiction. My current freelance writing gig is for a health magazine but I found it equally helpful writing for Baby Magazine, as I often had to interview doctors. I've even found it helpful in editing a book on herbal remedies. Just because you don't have a career in the field doesn't mean it isn't going to be helpful to you to understand math and science. And girls who have a real talent in it need all the encouragement they can get.

Unfortunately, scientists in books, television shows and movies are almost always male. There are a few charming exceptions. Meg's mother is a beautiful and brilliant chemist. She's actually an inspiration to me even though I don't work in the scientist; her depiction shows how to juggle career and homemaking. The movie Meet the Robinsons shows also a woman scientist married to a man, but why do they have to make her look weird? That's hardly encouraging to girls.

I've been racking my brains to think of works like these to introduce to my daughter. Smart girls in books are almost always detectives. But hardly anyone grows up to become a detective. Suzy Austin in Madeleine L'Engle's Austins series is into science and wants to be a doctor. Unfortunately she is a secondary character with a tendency to be abrasive and hence not that likable.

Being aware of this, I made a conscious decision to create more female characters who are proficient in math and science. In "Summer of Sand and Sea," the story I submitted to an anthology to be published by Ateneo Press next year, the protagonist is a teenage girl who is planning to be a marine biologist. In my recently completed Kabanata novel, Black and Blue, the female protagonist is proficient in both aikido and math. They are both protagonists in romances, which I feel is important too. One reason girls shun mat and science in their teens is they are afraid being good at these will be a turn-off to boys.

But I have yet to think of such a story for a book for younger girls. I have a book about a young ballerina in mind for my next girl book project, as this is another of my daughter's interests. But I really would like to encourage her proficiency in science and encourage her to work harder in math. I have a story in mind about a STEM proficient boy, intended to fulfill a promise to my husband who teaches junior high. If anyone can suggest a good story for a girl's book about such a character, I would be very grateful.