If you haven't seen "Thor", I am not spoiling the movie for you if I tell you Natale Portman's character is an astronomer.   So what, you ask?   Indeed, Jodie Foster was an astronomer in "Contact", I wasn't aware there was any particular dearth of female astronomers in cinema, or in astronomy, but if you are a culture blogger who masquerades in science, and there are less than 50% of women in a field, then it's cause for concern.

If, however, social sciences  has almost 80% women, and academia has 2% Republicans, that is 'choice'.   Inside Science News Service contributing writer Stephen P. Maran has drunk that Kool-Aid, even though any glass ceiling that existed was shattered decades ago, and laments that women are underrepresented in astronomy because less than 22 percent of current members of the American Astronomical Society are female.    Maran is an astronomy writer so he can be forgiven for not recognizing that if women are being 'discouraged' from science and math careers, it is by women, who comprise 70% of high school teachers.

Still, it's an excuse to talk about "Thor".  It was a pretty good movie.  They'll never give a digital film an award for cinematography, I suppose, but that one might deserve it.