Who would have thought that STEM stereotypes would be tackled in the funnies?
Although adults are the ones focused like lasers on the STEM issue, a little girl with a lot of spunk and big dreams confronted the myth that minorities and girls are underachievers when it comes to science, technology, engineering and math. Her name is Gracie, she is about 8ish, and, by the way, she is a cartoon character who appeared this summer.
Gracie is one of the main characters in Baldo, a syndicated cartoon strip. She has a loving, close-knit family: her teenage brother Baldo, her great aunt Tia Carmen and her dad Sergio. By the way, Gracie is a little too independent to be characterized as a “daddy’s girl.” In fact, she has a plan for her life, and her goals are not limited by others.
So, with all of the strength that a child can muster, Gracie — a Hispanic little girl — charged into the STEM arena. In the July 18 Baldo comic strip, which was carried by 200 newspapers, she matter-of-factly mentioned to Tia Carmen that she would focus on a “STEM area of study” when she went to college.
Gracie made a huge statement without really trying. While it is not uncommon to see STEM issues covered on the front pages of the nation’s newspapers, seeing the discussion migrating to the funny pages was unique.
The minds behind the daily comic strip are Hector Cantu and Carlos Castellanos. Gracie is a compilation of the “powerful” women they saw in their families and communities when they were growing up. Cantu grew up in South Texas during the Chicano Power Movement and Gracie embodies some of these qualities. “She has a quest for knowledge, learning and being smart,” Cantu says.
Baldo is the most widely syndicated comic strip featuring Hispanic characters. (Gordo, however, which ran as a daily comic strip in papers from the 1940s to 1985, is thought to be the first comic strip featuring Hispanic characters.)
