Considering that we observed Womens Day a few months ago, as a gender-sensitized man, I started a series of articles focusing on areas which are stereo-typically seen as mens domains. The first one (http://wordpress-200526-602825.cloudwaysapps.com//women-in-unconventional-roles-security-personnel/) was on women in the security forces, be it the police or even the army. Previously, Ive written about women excelling in sports, even competing with men.
Here, I bring yet another article on a domain that is not seen as much with a sexist bias anymore; yet, there are still enough men in our country (and surprisingly even in the US – http://www.care2.com/causes/dispatches-from-the-war-on-women-yes-girls-can-do-math.html -which has led legislators there to suggest legislations like Title IX, used for gender equality in sport, to be applied to science and engineering as well) who would tend to stereotype girls as rote-learners and contend that subjects like mathematics and physics are not their cup of tea. Even in the field of science, they believe that the only appropriate profession for a girl is medicine or teaching, for it fits the stereotype of a girl ‘serving’ others (even the much discussed fatwa from Deoband on working women mentions nursing, sewing and medicine to be the among the few professions women can take up; its another thing that this was a rather absurd and forced interpretation of the scriptural references cited), but in this article, I wish to point out that had the fairer sex only been about rote-learning, then we would have lost out on some of the most significant inventions and discoveries. No, Madam Curie hasnt been the only great female scientist, though she does happen to be the only scientist, irrespective of gender, to have won two Nobel prizes one in physics and the other in chemistry.
The correction fluid we use was invented by a woman, Bette Nesmith Graham, and she wasnt even a scientist by occupation but a typist and commercial artist. If you use wipers to clean your car windscreen when it rains, then you again have a woman to thank Mary Anderson. Nappies too are, not surprisingly, a female invention, and the credit goes to Marion Donovan. Another interesting fact is that the technology that forms the basis of mobile phones and wireless internet connections is the contribution of Heduy Lamarr, a rocket scientist, who was also a Hollywood actress and seen as a sex symbol! In fact, another actress who has also been a scientist is Natalie Portman, who invented a method to demonstrate the enzymatic production of hydrogen from sugar.
The first mechanical dishwasher was also invented by a female Josephine Cochran. The fire escape route was the invention by Anna Connelly and the signaling system using flares used in rescue operations was invented by Martha Coston. British biophysicist Rosalind Franklin‘s work was critical to elucidating the structure and function of DNA. Elif Belgin, a teenaged girl from Turkey, invented bioplastics from banana peels, and won the Best Science in Action Award at the Google Science Fair internationally in 2013. Ann Makosinski, another teenaged girl from Canada, invented a “hollow flashlight” powered by body heat. Vera Rubin, a female American astronomer, galaxies spin faster than Newtons Universal Law of Gravitation dictates they should and was awarded the National Medal of Science, Americas most prestigious scientific accolade.
Even our neighbouring country Pakistan has produced some remarkable female scientists, as you can see in these articles – http://tribune.com.pk/story/34286/lgs-girls-win-nasa-competition/, http://scienceblogs.com/startswithabang/2012/10/04/the-first-pakistani-woman-phd-in-astrophysics-exclusive-interview-with-mariam-sultana/ and http://www.scidev.net/global/communication/feature/successful-women-scientists-how-did-they-do-it–1.html.
I know personally many Indian girls who are brilliant at mathematics and physics, and they have been from the upper socioeconomic strata to which I belong. The stereotype of girls being rote-learners in the Indian context has an element of truth but that is largely because in our patriarchal society, girls are not encouraged to think independently, to explore, to be adventurous. Swami Vivekananda, in his trip to the United States, was extremely impressed to see how independent American women were. Indeed, the intelligentsia of this country feels very strongly about gender equality, and thanks to men like Gandhi and Nehru, women were enfranchised much before Switzerland or even the whole of the United States. while the mentality of the common man is changing for the better, it has not kept pace with the developed world, and very often, women themselves are more patriarchal by outlook than even men, for while some men may be able to appreciate that spirit of inquiry and adventure in a girl, for they may share that with her, a traditionally minded woman will see that as compromising on being feminine (someone who has seen the animated Hollywood movie ‘Brave’ would relate very well to what I am saying).
By idolizing women as mothers, sisters and wives, we overlook that there is more to them as human beings, and even this is a form of patriarchy. Sita is a symbol of patriarchy, of subservience, Durga is a symbol of empowerment, and so are figurines like Arunadhati and other poetesses who composed Vedic verses.
As someone who has invented an ecofriendly and medically safe cleansing agent with a friend (and I mention this not to brag, but to highlight that I am making a statement from personal experience), I would say that to invent or to discover needs courage and determination. It may not seem that way,. For it doesnt correlate with direct physical hardship as one would relate to climbing mountains (though women have performed great feats in that sphere too, which is besides the point) and Indian girls too wouldnt lag behind if they are nurtured to believe that they are as capable as anyone else, and not trained to be submissive, as these articles point out – http://www.youthkiawaaz.com/2012/06/princesses-and-their-dark-side-why-the-concept-of-being-a-good-girl-is-a-faux/ and http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tara-sophia-mohr/women-and-work_b_1568452.html.
And indeed, its not as though India has not produced remarkable female scientists, but they had to face more challenges than their male counterparts in this country had to. Prof Rajinder Jeet Hans-Gill, a female mathematician, currently a Fellow at the prestigious Third World Academy of Sciences, had to fake being a boy to attend school in her village, for there was no girls school. To cite another example, Manju Ray, a scientist at the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science, Kolkata, had to struggle to educate herself while living in a small village in what is now Bangladesh. During her Class 10 examination, she had to stay with a Muslim family to avoid 8-9 hours of travel to school. She and her family were rejected by the community for this, showing how steep caste and communal differences have been in the Indian society.
India is far from reaching its potential in terms of scientific research, in spite of having produced some big names in ancient and modern times, owing to various reasons, and we need to clearly buck up on this front, with the Chinese acquiring more and more patents and patent royalties contributing to their GDP. In order to progress in this field, it is absolutely necessary that talent is promoted in India, irrespective of gender.
The author is a freelance writer based in New Delhi. He has co-authored two short books, namely Onslaughts on Free Speech in India by Means of Unwarranted Film Bans and Women and Sport in India and the World. He is currently working on a TV serial on the life of the great freedom fighter Maulana Azad and co-authoring a book on Sino-Indian relations.