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Gender Mathematics In The Simpsons

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Gendered Mathematics in the Case of The Simpsons A growing question within education is why males generally do better in STEM related fields than their female counterparts. The Simpsons episode entitled “Girls Just Want to Have Sums” attempts to answer this question through its analyzation and observation of the differences between boys and girls. By forcing a girl into a boy’s world, we begin to see the issue from both sides, and the many aspects that make it such a daunting question. The main plot of the episode follows Lisa Simpson’s quest to receive a challenging math program in her school. After Principle Skinner is fired for his problematic “diarrhea of the mouth” regarding women in mathematics, he is replaced by women’s educational expert Melanie Upfoot, whose first act is to segregate the school by gender, to allow girls …show more content…

During this time, she becomes Jake Boyman. Whether or not this new identity truly correlates to Lisa’s exceptional math skills, her new surroundings are what magnify the differences between the boys and girls. These differences are what separate most men and women. Her brother Bart and the rest of the boys teach her to think with a boy brain, which to Margaret Atwood, is a brain “good for aiming…for hitting the target when you pull the trigger” (Atwood 468). A brain to reach conclusions, and get results. The open ended conclusion to the episode provides us with no real answer to the question. It allows the audience to draw their own conclusions to the real reason behind why more men are in math. One indisputable fact is that Lisa was changed by this experience. She sees now that men and women are different, and our natures often dictate how we express our interests in life. Whether or not one chooses to try and achieve in mathematics is solely up to them, and so long as the opportunities for both men and women to succeed are present, anyone can achieve what they

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There are certain events that seems to lead to this resentment and her actions afterwards just further supports the idea. The inferiority complex starts when Lisa starts to learn swimming at school but can never put her heads underwater long enough so she was determined to learn swimming in four weeks. Jimmy copied her moves effortlessly( Robinson, 47) and instead of being smug about it, he give her those soft, pitying looks( 48). This event is enough for her to stop wanting Jimmy to stick with her and she began to seek out others company, like Erica and Tabs.

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This rejection is similar to the way she views boys, when other girls begin talking about boys LisaMarie and her cousin Tabitha do not agree with them: “Girls in our class had become very silly, standing in the playground and whispering about this boy or that. I was glad I didn’t have to be a part of that” (Robinson 127). LisaMarie has yet to accept boys, just as she has yet to accept her talents. Furthermore, her negative attitude towards boys also extends to her brother Jimmy. After leaving him to

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