I also find this bit of the interview significant: Q. Were there girls at M.I.T. then? A. Very few, but M.I.T. from its very start took women.
In part it's the language, that "girls" is more acceptable at older ages than "boys" is. But language and culture both push on each other.
On the other hand, I can see an explanation for the "his work is much better than his sister's" as a difference between early work and late work. Kind of like Megan Lindholm changing her pen name to Robin Hobb and getting paid more, not to try to pretend to be male but just to start over with a new identity when her talents had grown.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2006-07-19 06:25 pm (UTC)Q. Were there girls at M.I.T. then?
A. Very few, but M.I.T. from its very start took women.
In part it's the language, that "girls" is more acceptable at older ages than "boys" is. But language and culture both push on each other.
On the other hand, I can see an explanation for the "his work is much better than his sister's" as a difference between early work and late work. Kind of like Megan Lindholm changing her pen name to Robin Hobb and getting paid more, not to try to pretend to be male but just to start over with a new identity when her talents had grown.