They Say: Math Struggles May Really Be All in Your Head

Amy Kuras — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 21:31:00 GMT

I’m good at some things, but math is not one of them. The one math skill I possess is calculating a restaurant tip; however, more times than not my husband sits there tapping his fork while I stare into space and mouth “carry the one…” since he’s figured it out minutes ago.

And it’s not for lack of trying – I got extra help in school and even had a few outstanding math teachers (Mr. Scalzi, I’ll be forever grateful). No help. I have often tried to explain it as “it’s just not the way my brain works”—which, as it turns out, might be true.

Many children who struggle with math have a brain anomaly called “developmental dyscalculia.” It’s similar to dyslexia but with numbers instead of with words. People who have it typically have trouble connecting a numerical symbol like “5” with the quantity it represents.

Researcher Daniel Ansari, Canada Research Chair in Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Western Ontario, is using MRI brain imaging to better understand the disorder. He’s found that the brains of children with developmental dyscalculia show atypical activation patterns in a part of the brain called the parietal cortex.

With help, he theorizes, many of these children could grow up and pursue even careers they thought were closed off to them because of their difficulties with math.

Sounds awesome –but for right now, I think I’ll stick with my cell phone calculator and my ten fingers and toes. Because so far, my ninth grade wail that I’d never neeeedddd algebra has proved very, very true.

S&M Barbie

Brett Singer — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 19:00:00 GMT

Let me take you through my reactions to this story.

Hello, what's this? S&M Barbie? The toy? The overdeveloped, underfed doll? The one dating a man with no genitals? That seems… odd. Let's take a look.

Yowza! Barbie in fishnets! F'real! All right. We had the high heels for babies. But those were supposed to be a joke (not a funny one, but still). This is just bizarre. I hate agreeing with the Christian Right, but when they say, "Barbie has always been on the tarty side and this is taking it too far," I'm tempted to agree.

I have to admit, though, that she sort of looks like Black Canary from DC Comics…

Wait a minute! That IS Black Canary! So it's Barbie, dressed up like Black Canary. That… still seems odd. Why would they choose her? For a non-JLA fan (that's Justice League of America, in case you are yourself one of those non-fans), she's a bit of an obscure character. Why not someone better known, like Wonder Woman? Black Canary is a blonde, I guess. Well, actually she's a brunette but she wears a wig instead of a mask… I'm sorry, did you fall asleep? OK, I'll stop geeking out.

So it's Black Canary, which makes it an action figure. But there already is a Black Canary action figure. Actually, there are several, but here's one for comparison purposes:
Source: flickr

For what it's worth (excuse me while I geek out again) Black Canary is, despite her appearance, a fairly positive female role model. She's considered one of the best hand-to-hand fighters, male or female, in the DCU (that's "DC comics Universe") and is currently the leader of the Justice League. She takes no crap, kicks major ass, and asks questions later. Barbie once said, "Math class is tough!" (source) So you could make an argument that Black Canary is a better role model than Barbie, and therefore the doll is empowering.

I don't really see the point of doing this, especially since Barbie's target audience is young girls. So while I think the Vast Christian Right Wing Conspiracy is a bit over the top, I do think it's kind of an odd choice for a Barbie doll. What's next, Big Gay Ken? Oh wait, they did that already.

Source: flickr

A commenter on Boing Boing says that this is a collectible meant for an "older" audience and that young girls don't play with such things. Another commenter says "uh-uh, they totally do." (Not a direct quote.)

So there you go.

It's weird, but is it really offensive? Would you buy one of these for your daughter? Is this sexist, empowering, just a bad choice for a doll?

image: boingboing.net

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