Who said Girls are Not Good at Math?

Commentary, Poetry, Writing 201

One of the things I always wanted to understand is the wonders of Math.

My algebra teacher said “try, try again, if at first you fail.
An understatement…like trying to teach Math to a whale.

Here is a poem I’ve penned (so to speak) which conveys the point I am trying to make for no reason than thanks from those fortunate old lads and lasses that never had ME in their math classes.

Is it true what they said, that girls don’t know math?

There was an old lady named Madge,

who didn’t get Math as a girl

as hard as she tried, the more her brain fried.

I’ll get this, I will,

if its the last thing I do, she said as she studied

and figured

in spite of the glaze on her eyes.

Don’t confuse me with squares and axioms or paradigms

paradoxes, place holders, equations or boxes.

Then one day a bit of “New Math” gave her some clues

where a pencil and paper would only confuse

It was grey matter that made a much better board

for figures and signs and all sorts of

Math Tricks.

Finally!  Eureka!  a breakthrough, Madge said

as she solved two plus two

and started to realize what she could do.

One more life time should master Madge’s math disaster.

Beginning all over without being reminded that

 “Girls are NOT good at Math.”

© Sometimes, 2016

16 thoughts on “Who said Girls are Not Good at Math?”

  2. Girls cab be brilliant at Maths…..Yes! My nemesis in Maths at High School were two delightful lasses…I still remember their names too…They were wizards…and I was no slouch. 😉

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  4. Love this. I hate math. My son is in 11th grade and is taking pre-calc. When I went to back to school night and his pre-calc teacher asked if anyone had any questions about the course syllabus for the year, my comment was “I never made it this far.”

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  5. Your poem is funny and optimistic. I don’t know who said girls are bad at math, but it’s nonsense. It’s certainly not the case that boys are necessarily any better. When I was a boy, I was a math-free zone. I haven’t developed any new skills since then. New math, old math or middle-aged math — it makes no difference to me.

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      1. I don’t blame you at all because I felt exactly the same way. Whenever I opened a math textbook, all the little numbers seemed to scowl at me and shake their fists.

        I guess the politest way to put it is that numbers and I have never been close friends.

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  7. It’s wonderful that you write about this. I think that math aversion is all related to who teaches and the methodology used. I had a horrible teacher when I concluded that I hated it and would never be good at it.

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