Tuesday, December 13, 2005

The Radical Agenda of Girls, Inc. You may have already heard how the radical religious right has launched an offensive against American Girl and Girls, Inc.  We are told that American Girl products should be boycotted because they support the "rabidly pro-abortion" Girls, Inc.  Douglas R. Scott of Life Decisions International tells us that "Girls Inc. is a non-profit that indoctrinates girls so they become pro-abortion advocates".  He goes on to warn us: "Considering its philosophy, one could reasonably predict that many of these 'strong, smart, and bold' girls will eventually end up lying on a table in front of an abortionist. And Girls Inc., along with the corporations that support it, will be largely responsible." Well, who knew?  And here I thought it would be a good thing to encourage girls to be strong, smart, and bold.  Now I see it is just dooming them to a wretched existence that leads straight to the abortionist.  Damn. If you think you can just send your daughter to a different organization to help her develop into a strong woman, beware.  It turns out, according to Mr. Scott, that the YWCA, Camp Fire, Girl Scouts, and Outward Bound are also pro-abortion and thus will doom your daughter to a wretched existence that etc. etc.  I actually went and checked the Outward Bound Philosophy on their website, and I could not find the words "we are solidly pro-abortion and will indoctrinate our participants to be, too".  But I'm sure it's part of their hidden agenda.  Likewise for YWCA, Camp Fire, and Girl Scouts.   Here's another radical part of the Girls, Inc. agenda:   [Girls Inc. programs] build her athletic skills and competitive spirit, nurture her ability and interest in science, math and technology, equip her with critical health and sexuality information, provide her leadership experience, teach her media literacy and money management skills, and foster her self-respect and self-determination. How can this be good for young girls, who ought to be learning their proper role in the universe, which is to submit to father/husband as the head of the household, stay home, and take care of the kids? If you, as a red-blooded American, think it is awful for programs like Girls, Inc. to nurture girls' ability and interest in science, math, and technology, and all the rest of their horrid agenda, then you most definately should NOT support them by buying an American Girls "I Can" bracelet for $1.00.          7:35:05 PM    comment [] The New and Improved WEPAN Website is Here! WEPAN - Women in Engineering Programs and Advocates Network - has launched a new, updated website.  Work on the website will continue through at least March 2006 but many new features are already available.  You can find various publications on the WEPAN site.  Some you pay for, some are free.  Among the free ones, let me draw your attention to this one that focuses on retention, by Pat Campbell, Eric Jolly, and Lesley Perlman.  It offers a very astute and fresh look at a complex issue.  The attention to race, and not just gender, makes this article particularly useful and informative.  If you are a member, you will also have access to WEPAN's Data and Statistics section.  There you will find fabulous tables, on enrollment, degrees, salaries, and the workforce.  The enrollment and degree data is presented by gender and race, and includes information on foreign nationals.  It's also offered for total engineering enrollment/degrees, and by engineering discipline.  Good stuff - so if you aren't a member, you should join, just for access to this data alone!  Thanks to the Commission for Professionals in Science and Technology (CPST) who provide this data to WEPAN.  If your university does not have an institutional membership - let them know they are behind the times and need to catch up by joining WEPAN!  Individual memberships are just $80, so there's no reason you can't take advantage yourself if your institution insists on steadfastly maintaining its pathetically inadequate approach to dealing with access and climate issues.       7:03:14 PM    comment []

© Copyright 2006 Suzanne E. Franks. Last update: 1/5/2006; 5:35:27 PM.