Rocketry: An Unexpected Sign of Progress

[beamjockey]

I was reading "New Launch Hoops," an article by Amy Butler in Aviation Week's 17 October 2011 issue. I quote:
The three U.S. agencies responsible for purchasing launches of government payloads into space are agreeing on long-awaited criteria that for the first time pave the way for new rocket companies to penetrate a national security launch

Comments

[netmouse]

I think there are probably a lot of things in effect on this one, and one of them that comes to mind because I know it's affecting me right not is risk-aversion. Now that I have an infant who is dependent on me, I'm not going to ride a motorcycle, though I'd like to, and I'm not going to take flying lessons, though I'd like to do that too.

But even before that, I think I've been more affected than I realized by the societal message toward girls that we should be careful, be in control and not do dangerous things. Learning to fly is no doubt less dangerous than learning to drive a car, but it also has a sense about it of not being a sensible, practical thing to do. Just as fewer women play golf than men, fewer women fly. If that comparison makes any sense... (it does to me).

The discrimination comes into play, of course, in the fact that flying is a perfectly practical skill, and good pilots are in demand in the commercial sector, but historically women have a harder time getting hired to be pilots. And, of course, we aren't allowed to be combat pilots, at least in the US. So even if you do learn to fly, your chances of getting to fly a really fast, high-performance plane are really low if you're female. At least that's my perception.