Marriage is slowly losing its importance for younger people, however the romantic ideals with the dress, cake and walking off into the sunset are still on the minds of young women.
Recent studies on college women and romance have shown the idea of marriage and being involved in a romantic relationship can be detrimental to your math and science grades. According to The Huffington Post this matrimania, a bombardment of all things wedding in the media and from our peers, can cause college women to relinquish our passion for chemistry and statistics for the married life.
“College women who had just seen pictures of beach sunsets and romantic restaurants were less likely to express an interest in majoring in math or science, or pursuing careers in those areas, than were women who had just seen pictures of books and eyeglasses,” stated the article.
Are our brains really that malleable to be swayed by a little sweet talk, pictures and cuddling?
The study done by researchers at the State University of New York at Buffalo gave diaries to college women to record feelings about romance and math. Girls recalled feeling “prettier” on days where they had dates with someone they were interested in or even just communicated with them but showed less interest in math class and homework.
The study focused on the subjects of math and science, but is matrimania destroying our desire for careers in writing, teaching, kinesiology, business or history?
It seems entirely old fashioned to fall victim to the 1950s model of the working husband and the homemaker wife, and although that future is not what I envision for myself, it may well be someone else’s idea of the perfect life.
Although, according to The Chicago Tribune, the 2010 U.S. census shows less than half of the households in America consist of married couples, the idea of marriage still causes college women to lose focus on why they came to college in the first place.
In an ideal world, women don’t attend university solely to find a relationship. A relationship can be a bonus, but hopefully earning a degree is main reason you’re shelling out thousands of dollars for your education.
Around campus there are a multitude of organizations dedicated to uniting women in engineering, science and mathematics including the ASU chapter of the Association for Women in Mathematics, Miss Barrett Engineer, Women in Science and Engineering, Society for Women in Science, Society for Women in Engineering plus various sororities, fraternities and other organizations.
Don’t let chemistry between you and your significant other get in the way of your biochemistry degree.
Reach the columnist at tafergu1@asu.edu Click here to subscribe to the daily State Press newsletter.
