Today is the March for Science and I wanted to write more about women scientists but I’m having computer:DK dysfunction. So what you see tonight are the news items our dedicated WOW women entered into the draft (thanks Tara, ramara, NoBlinkers, and officebss); what I added before the snafus hit; and tweets that didn’t stress my new computer system’s dislike for the Daily Kos interface. (Thanks to DK tech who are patiently helping me.) Don’t forget to read WOW2 that published earlier today: April’s Women Trailblazers and Events in OUR History.
Women and Science
What all those scientists on Twitter are really doing
Female scientists are over-represented on Twitter — but mathematicians and life scientists are less likely to use it, finds an analysis of scientists’ behaviour on the site. The study found that news sites are among the top links shared by researchers — perhaps as a way to communicate scientific results while bypassing journal paywalls.
Check out the blog at the medium.com link below.
Women in art and science!
Let’s not forget our Mother and Earth Day!
Reproductive Rights
We know that abortion restrictions weigh heaviest on poor and/or uninsured and/or minority women. One part of the abortion rights movement that doesn’t get much acknowledgement is the mostly volunteer organizations that raise money to fund abortions for women who cannot afford the cost of an abortion. Rewire looks at some of the women who make up these agencies.
Workplace Issues
The hashtags #ThingsOnlyWomenWritersHear and #ThingsWOCWritersHear manage to be hilarious, heartbreaking & infuriating all at once.
Summing up the Bill O’Reilly event.
Social Issues
First woman to officially run Boston Marathon ran it again 50 years later. After finishing the first time in 1967, she was disqualified from the race and kicked out of the Amateur Athletic Union. But her participation was bigger than this dismissal and opened up marathons for women runners. Katherine Switzer didn’t pretend to be male, but registered using her initials (K.V.) and last name. The entry form didn’t ask for gender — everyone who runs a marathon must be male; women are too frail for a 26 mile race, right? She wore lipstick and earrings, although she added baggy sweats atop her shorts as the day was cold and snowy. Several miles into the event, race director Jock Semple ran up behind her.
Chivalry wasn’t required for Switzer and other women to participate in 2017. Instead, in honor of her original race 50 years ago, the Boston Marathon retired her number, 261, in Switzer's honor after she ran in 2017 with supporters from around the world.
Easy for him to say (although grammatically incorrect; actually he should have used subjunctive mood). He’s also deleted that tweet, perhaps because due to the response he shut up because he felt violated?
“Finally”
In a bit of ‘finally’ news, Maryland updated their rape laws. The previous version required ‘force or threat of force’, which had been interpreted as needing evidence the victim fought back. How necessary was this? In 2013-2015, 1/3 of the rape cases classified as ‘unfounded’ were done so because there was no evidence the woman fought back. Of course, that ignores the ‘fight, flight, freeze’ range of responses to sexual assault, and that fighting back increases the likelihood of increased injury or even being killed. The law doesn’t go in effect until Oct, but it’s at least a step in the right direction.
For another ‘finally’...Bill O'Reilly has been fired from Fox News. The catalyst was yet another sexual harassment charge...but was probably due to the fact 60+ advertisers abandoned his show in the DAYS after the NYT report revealing the multiple sexual harassment settlements. Either way, this is excellent news. Two down...how many more sexual predators are still working at Fox? Either way, it will only get easier for women to report, and to expect action by the company with both Ailes and O’Reilly let go.
Miscellaneous
I once read some writer wonder why Anglo-Saxon words for sexual body parts and acts (cunt, fuck) were considered obscene while the Latin were considered acceptable. Well, here is a historical and etymological look at the word cunt. (Some people might find the article or the illustrations offensive.)
A history of the deadly (yes go read about it!) crinoline. They were back in fashion for a bit in the 1950’s, which the article doesn’t mention, as society (men) tried to get women back on their pedestal after they stepped down to take men’s jobs during WW II (and dumped crinolines for clothes that wouldn’t kill them as they worked).