Ep 81: Creating Genius

Janice Kaplan, NYT Bestselling author, most recently of The
Genius of Women, discusses why 90% of the population thinks only
men can be geniuses. Janice and Andy cover what we can talk to
and teach our girls about to empower them at a time when we need
more geniuses than ever!


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Full show notes


If your daughter was a brilliant pianist—as good as Mozart,
say—wouldn’t you want her to share her talent? Of course you
would! You’d pay for lessons, organize recitals, and help her
blossom into the artist she was born to be. Imagine the wasted
potential of not motivating your teenage
daughter, or leading her to believe she was supposed to
be doing something else. It’d be heartbreaking. Still, this is
exactly what happened to Nannerle Mozart, who was told to go home
to be married in her teenage years instead of following in her
brother’s footsteps.


Fortunately, something like this would probably not happen in the
21st Century. However, the sad truth is there are still
innumerable obstacles facing women of all ages, from toddlers to
teens, that are almost too subliminal to notice. The stigmatized
expectations of women are internalized by girls at a very tender
age, and without the proper guidance from parents, these
perceptions can seriously hurt girls’ self esteem! They might
even give up on their dreams and settle for whatever they’re told
is “right” for them.


There are very few geniuses in the world, but the fact that so
few women geniuses are recognized points to a deep-seated bias
against women at large. To better understand how parents can
protect their daughters from this bias as well as educate their
sons as to make all teens wiser on gender inequality, I spoke
with Janice Kaplan, author and co-author of fifteen different
books, including The Genius of Women: From Overlooked to Changing
the World.


In this book, Kaplan dissects what it means to be a “genius” and
why it is that women are often overlooked in the running. Her
takeaways are a great starting place if you’re looking for ways
of motivating your teenage daughteror talking to
your son about these issues so he can better understand the
cultural influences that shape gender inequality.


I asked Janice what inspired her to write a book championing the
female capacity for genius. In her answer, Janice cited an
eye-opening poll in which people were asked to name some well
known geniuses––but almost none could name a female genius. The
results of the poll showed that 90% of people only mentioned men
as examples of geniuses, and the only woman people recognized as
a genius was Marie Curie.


Why can’t people recall the names of more brilliant females? Are
they inherently sexist? Of course not. It’s more complicated than
that, says Janice. There are a lot of social factors that add up
to create this unbalanced reality, this world in which only men
are thought to be capable of genius. It’s not that women aren’t
talented, but instead that they are rarely encouraged, recognized
or challenged––causing them to fall short of their worth. We know
that you prioritize motivating your teenage
daughter, but unfortunately, the world doesn’t always do
the same.


Why We Can’t Seem to Name Many Female Geniuses


Everyone knows the saying, “If a tree falls in the forest and no
one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?” The question
causes us to ponder: if we don’t know about something, does it
ever actually happen? Janis says this question can be applied to
women’s accomplishments––if women are extremely smart and
talented but no one talks about their contributions, will their
genius ever be recognized? Will this make motivating your
teenage daughter even harder?


In order to answer this question about motivating your
teenage daughter, Janis shares a definition of “genius”
which is rather thought provoking. She defines genius as
“extraordinary talent, plus celebrity.” This doesn’t mean a
celebrity like Kim Kardashian or Paris Hilton, but instead
someone whose work is widely recognized and respected.


For example, does the name Katherine Johnson ring a bell?
Probably not! Although her name does not live in infamy, Johnson
was a brilliant mathematician whose orbital calculations were
critical for the first crewed NASA space flights. Unlike, say,
Albert Einstein, Johnson is not a household name. This is largely
because in the 60s, and throughout history, black women like
Johnson have rarely been celebrated for their accomplishments,
relegated instead to the background. When asked to name a genius,
you can’t recall someone you’ve never heard of! No wonder
motivating your teenage daughter, there aren’t
enough known female geniuses.


In the episode, Janis dives into the stories of several female
geniuses whose names you probably don’t know! Make sure to listen
so that if someone asks you to name a genius, you’ll be able to
recall the names of these brilliant women instead of allowing
them to live on in obscurity.


How We Hinder Women From Reaching Their
Potential


On top of not being recognized, many brilliant females are not
given the encouragement to build on their talents. This is not a
result of explicit sexism––we would never tell girls they can’t
be doctors––but instead through small, cultural nudges that
suggest women should stick to more traditional expectations. If
most of the doctors a young girl sees on TV are male,
motivating your teenage daughter will be more
challenging since





she’s not going to believe that it’s possible for her to
establish herself as a medical professional.


There are lots of small, indirect ways that these messages
towards women are transmitted. Society often hyper-analyzes the
way women look, constantly making them feel as though their
appearance is the source of their worth. Meanwhile, men rarely
face this kind of scrutiny, and are instead evaluated on their
academic or athletic achievements. There’s also a lot of
differences between the kinds of after school programs we offer
to boys and those we offer to girls. For example, Boy Scouts
encourages boys to camp, build, and explore...while Girl Scouts
is motivating your teenage daughter to cook and
sew.


Although these forces don’t directly tell women that they aren’t
as capable as men, they teach women not to aspire quite so
highly. Motivating your teenage daughter is made harder when they
are told to remain in the boxes they are placed. They make women
feel, often subconsciously, as though it’s wiser to have less
ambition since they’ll never be able to compete with men.


Talking to Kids About Gender


The unfortunate reality about motivating your teenager
daughter is that kids are taught to have these beliefs
about gender, not born with them. In our conversation, Janis
discusses a study that demonstrates this. When young kids were
brought into the labs at Princeton and shown pictures of both a
man and a woman, they were asked to identify which one was a
genius. Their choices shocked researchers and might surprise you
too when you listen to the episode.


Janis p...