Hi Lynn,
I just wanted to clarify.
Of course I wasn't saying that men or woman "should" be anything... except what God has called them to be, of course.
The two women in the article did not work together--they worked at completely different stations, and they were not complaining at all or trying to prove themselves as being better, but rather, just stating the facts of the job. They just happened to be the two women that the article chose to quote, and they were not co-workers with each other. The work itself was rather isolating--hours of driving alone in rugged, barren terrain, knowing that at any minute you could be ambushed and shot. They actually had very little contact with co-workers, but were talking about what it was like when they did.
Both of these women did not have families of their own and seemed to be the kind of people who were made, or "called" for that type of job, and their basic message was, "If you like talking to other women or being treated gently, this ain't the job for you--move right along."
I also certainly wasn't saying that women being in the field of science is anything new either--I was just making the observation that it seems to be much more encouraged than it used to be (at the time, I was thinking of an organization started by a celebrity--model Karlie Kloss--that recruits and encourages young girls to try and develop their skills in coding.)
I guess I'm a bit different too in that I was raised in a VERY traditional household (husband provided; wife was the homemaker) but turned out to be a bit nontraditional myself, though I admit that it wasn't exactly due to my own choice. Once the husband left, I had to take on all the things he used to do along with all my regular chores (and of course, one doesn't need to be specifically divorced, single, or widowed to know that modern life just seems to require that many of us be a little bit of everything.)
I remember when a (female) friend came over to help me pack all my things before moving, and because we didn't have a guy to help us at the time, whenever she said there was a particularly heavy box, I just moved it myself. I can tell the effects of time, though, lol--my lifting capacity isn't quite the same as when I was in my 20's!
I do agree with the posts made that said that we are all designed for different things. Some women are meant to be in "tough jobs"; some men are meant to be stay-at-home dads; some people are designed to be provided for by someone else.
We all have a role, and of course, in the end, all that matters is what God calls us to to and whether or not we decide to obey His calling.