Isn't that a great title? How I wish I had thought of it, but Kate Harding beat me to it in her "tale of two women who found science and math right in the heart of Girlsville".

Quoting Boing Boing which was quoting Sherry Turkle's book Falling for Science, (Gotta love the web), Kate tells the story of computer scientist Christine Alvarado's mathematical awakening -- which involved a My Little Pony.

I had several small plastic Ponies that I used to play make-believe with my friends. But I had one larger, plush My Little Pony, a bright-green stuffed horse with a vivid pink mane and tail that I played with all by myself. I would sit for hours on my own, braiding and rebraiding its tail. I developed a system for braiding the tail of my Pony that taught me about mathematical concepts-- from division to recursion.

And if that's not happy making enough, Kate goes on to tell us the story of science writer Linda Geddes wedding which included biology experiments, a white princess dress, a tiara and a color scheme,

And when Kate concludes:

Some girls think My Little Ponies are dead boring and some women think big, white weddings are, and they certainly shouldn't be pressured into faking interest for the sake of the status quo. But neither should kids and adults of any gender who love traditionally feminine things and traditionally masculine intellectual pursuits be expected to see those loves as contradictory.

I start to swoon

Hat tip to FairerScience friend Kathryn Campbell-Kibler for sharing this.