ADOLESCENCE AND YOUNG ADULTHOOD
Athena girls look under car hoods. They are the ones who learn
how to fix things. They are the girls in computer classes who imme-
diately and eagerly catch on to how the machines work and have
an affinity for computerese. They may take to computer program-
ming like a duck to water, because they think linearly and clearly,
with attention to detail. They are the girls who learn about the stock
market, who save and invest.
Very often, an Athena girl thinks that “most girls are silly or
dumb,” expressing much the same attitude that preadolescent boys
seem to have. An Athena girl is much more likely to be interested
in classifying a strange bug than to be alarmed by it. She is puzzled
when other girls have “Little Miss Muf-fet” responses. As befitting
a girl who takes after Athena, who punished Arachne, no spider
“who sits down beside her” will scare Miss Athena away.
Young Athena may excel at sewing, weaving, or needlepoint. She
may enjoy various crafts and she may share these interests with her
mother or other traditionally minded girls with whom she otherwise
often feels little in common. She, more than they, may enjoy the
challenge of making a pattern and developing a skill, and may not
be motivated by being able to make doll clothes or pretty things for
herself. She takes pleasure in the workmanship of what results.
Practicality and an appreciation for quality motivate her to make
her own clothes.
Athena girls are usually not problem daughters, when many
others are. Screaming or tearful scenes are notably absent. Hormonal
changes hardly seem to affect such a girl’s behavior or moods. She
may spend her high school days with boys who are her intellectual
equals. She may enroll in a chess club, work on the school annual,
or compete in the science fair. She may like math and excel in it, or
spend time in the chemistry, physics, or computer lab.
Socially aware, extraverted Athena girls use their powers of obser-
vation, noting what to wear, or what social alliances she should
maintain. They comment on their ability to com-
Athena: Goddess of Wisdom Growing beyond the confining