women in string theory

Yesterday, after the first talk at the Strings conference, having had a lot of coffee, I headed for the women's toilet. It was a pleasant surprise. There was an incredibly long line. Normally, a women's room line is not something I am excited about. Often I find myself at the end of one after a long movie or at a sporting event. It is usually a painful wait while people take eons in the stalls (what are they doing in there?!?).

But never did I expect to run into such a large density of women at a theoretical physics conference. There are many more of us than I had thought. Seeing that there do exist successful women string theorists-- professors and post docs and other grad students-- is encouraging.

Don't get me wrong-- its still a male dominated culture. I found myself last night with a large group of guys who wanted to go to a strip club. And I still find myself in situations where people talk over me or try to dominate intellectually. (They go in for the kill: focusing on one detail that I am not sure about, completely ignoring the larger, more beautiful, and more interesting point that I am trying to make) But perhaps there is hope.