Robotics is for everyone

[dashrobotics]

Hey! I’m from 1881B Skirts & Steel and we are an all girls team. Over the years we’ve noticed that we are treated a lot differently (worse) at competitions than our male counterparts. We love VEX and want to make it better, so we started an initiative “Robotics is for everyone” to serve as a reminder that girls belong in engineering and everyone deserves a fair shot. Attached is the logo we’ve been giving out on stickers and pins at competitions.

[Odysseus]

Hi there,
I completely agree with you that robotics is for everyone, and I am sorry to hear that you feel you have been treated differently. I would stress that the best way to combat this would be to “fight back” with your robots. I don’t mean physically assault people or even attack other robots on the field. I’m talking about becoming so good that people will not be able to exclude you simply on the basis of gender. Here in the UK there have been legendary girls’ teams, some of which I have allied with. I know that robotics is a bit different in the US, but I am sure it is possible. If you are truly inspired about robotics and aspire to to well, I am sure you will.
good luck

P.S. There are “Girl Powered” events sponsored by VEX, specifically to help women in robotics, so you might want to check them out

[andromedagalactic4]

I support this! Robotics is for everyone, no matter who you are and what you identify as!
We are a stronger community together, and we build up together, and in order to do that everyone, and I mean everyone, must be included!
Respect!
Have a great day everyone!

[dashrobotics]

Hi! I appreciate you taking the time to respond respectfully. One of the main issues that my team faces is that it doesn’t matter how good we are because we still aren’t respected. Often we are alliance captains consistently and do well in skills, yet people still refuse to talk to us about aligning and make fun of us. Girl Powered is a great idea, but it doesn’t really do much to help with the problems we face in regards to sexism.

[Trinity]

That is quite an injustice, in which this stuff breaks the REC Code of Conduct. I think anyone can participate in robotics, male or female, handicapped/disabled, etc.

[andromedagalactic4]

For everyone’s information,

Robotics is for everyone, and it brings us together as a stronger nation,

And we learn from others because in this generation

It helps us with better communication

And even education

So in this situation,

We need to help everyone with motivation

To be the inspiration