Oh, for Chien-Shiung Wu's sake!
Jun. 24th, 2012 12:08 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gryphonseggI've been vaguely aware of the existence of an ad campaign using the tagline "Science-- it's a girl thing" and a backlash against it from women who are actually real life scientists. I didn't understand how bad it is until I looked atthe post about it at Sociological Images. Apparently, the ad designers decided that what keeps young women from pursuing careers in science is the fear that they won't be able to wear mini-dresses and four-inch heels in the lab (they won't, because it's unsafe) and won't be ogled by men in the lab (they will, but real life women in science tend to consider that a problem rather than a perk). So clearly, what girls who might make good scientists need to encourage them is a video that assures them that working in a science lab looks a lot like a fashion shoot and will still hold them to the stringent requirements of being tall and thin, wearing skirts that are short and heels that aren't, and posing for the appreciation of any men who happen to be around. Also, lady scientists get to replace safety goggles with stylish sunglasses and make stereotypical stupid/surprised faces when their molecule models fall apart! Unlabelled test tubes full of mysterious red liquid are just like tubes of lipstick! Remember, girls, hydrogen is sexy!
There are a lot of things wrong with that video, but the astronomer in this video lays it all out better than I ever could.
In addition to the above serious business criticism, I felt the need to post this more humorous take for those of us who need to laugh to keep from crying.
Also, let's have a Great Women Scientists in History roll call:
Whose name is that in the title of this post? If you don't know who Chien-Shiung Wu was, you should find out.
Everybody knows about Marie Curie, but did you know that her daughter Irene also won a Nobel Prize?
As that other video-- the one with all those unsexy facts-- mentioned, Mae Jemison has also made awesome contributions to science. She's from my home state too!
Ruth Patrick is one of my own personal science role models/heroes.
So is Lynn Margulis.
Emmy Noether was more a mathematician than a scientist per se, but her contributions to our current understanding of physics surely earn her a mention.
Let's not forget Lise Meitner or Rosalind Franklin, even though past Nobel committees wanted us to forget them.
Who else should go on the list?
There are a lot of things wrong with that video, but the astronomer in this video lays it all out better than I ever could.
In addition to the above serious business criticism, I felt the need to post this more humorous take for those of us who need to laugh to keep from crying.
Also, let's have a Great Women Scientists in History roll call:
Whose name is that in the title of this post? If you don't know who Chien-Shiung Wu was, you should find out.
Everybody knows about Marie Curie, but did you know that her daughter Irene also won a Nobel Prize?
As that other video-- the one with all those unsexy facts-- mentioned, Mae Jemison has also made awesome contributions to science. She's from my home state too!
Ruth Patrick is one of my own personal science role models/heroes.
So is Lynn Margulis.
Emmy Noether was more a mathematician than a scientist per se, but her contributions to our current understanding of physics surely earn her a mention.
Let's not forget Lise Meitner or Rosalind Franklin, even though past Nobel committees wanted us to forget them.
Who else should go on the list?