answer:That was outspokenly and explicitly the case 50 and more years ago, before the women’s movement and other initiatives began to change ways of thinking. Parents, teachers, and societal expectations in general reinforced the view that the difficult subjects were for boys and that it didn’t much matter what girls studied because they were just marking time until they became wives and mothers whose only real work was in the home. Girls who wanted to attract boys were discouraged from showing their brains and taught to cater to a boy’s ego. Girls who didn’t go along with that way of thinking had to expect to be wallflowers. I’d have to say that it just takes a long while for changes of attitude to go beyond the superficial.