The Magic School Bus & the "Default Male"
In class, we discussed Perez’s idea of the “default male,” or how men are seen as the default in different parts of our society. One example of an area in which women often feel unwelcome is the STEM field. Not only are most STEM careers male-dominated, but educational science material and science-y TV and movies usually center men. For example, those plastic human models you see in biology classes to help learn about human anatomy are almost always modeled after a male body. I can’t name a single nature or science show hosted by a woman, and as a young girl, I didn’t feel represented in science-related media. That’s not to say those shows narrated and hosted by women don’t exist, but almost all the shows and documentaries I grew up watching, like Bill Nye and National Geographic & BBC docs, are hosted or narrated by men. The Magic School Bus is the only science show I remember watching growing up with a female main character (Ms. Frizzle!) and looking back, I think it’s fai...