Women the invisible heros
Heroism and by objectivity describes how women can be heroic and still show objectivity while still being “more attached” than men. Orekes touches on the fact that women are viewed as more attached and less objective because of that;
“some recent commentators have gone to considerable lengths to try to demonstrate that there is a female way of doing science, characterized by greater empathy, greater concern for context, or a greater attention to the interconnectedness of natural phenomena- and thus potentially at odds with the norms of science objectivity.”
The ways in which children are raised conditions women to be more attached and men to be detached when it comes to emotions, this leads to a difference in thinking and expectations when it comes to the other sex. Women had, and still have, much different societal expectations; Orekes talks about the cliche of midnight discoveries and how they themselves help to keep women in science invisible.
“Midnight is the hour of uninterrupted work. But if the scientist in the story were a women, with children alone at home, would we still admire her dedication?”
The difference in treatment for men and women in science needs to change in order for more women to be able to get the recognition they deserve. It all comes down to equality for all.
In Hidden Figures one of the most powerful moments to me was when Kathrine Johnson defended herself because she had to walk half a mile to use the restroom because none of the nearby buildings had a bathroom that she could use. She was the only colored person in the room and 1 of the 2 women that were in the room. Kathrine had to fight to get into that room, and once she was there she still had to endure racism and discrimination because she was a black women. In reference to Okeskes’ ideas, Kathrine was brought in right as they were about to take off to check the landing coordinates, showing that she was the hero of the operation. Kathrine used mathematics to objectively look at situations and she never doubted her own abilities. I think that she really exemplifies the kind of Heroism and by Objectivity that Oreske describes.
In the movie I really like when Katherine’s boss went and destroyed the sign by the colored womens bathroom; I was extremely disappointed to learn that it didn’t actually happen. Now knowing that this particular situation was completely made up makes it feel like the movie producers had to make some of the white men in the movies the heros and have them be remembered differently, possibly better, than otherwise. This was a story about strong black women working at NASA helping to get a man into space, and the producers still felt the need to give the white men of that time more credit than they deserve. It’s nice to think about this scene happening back then by these people but it didn’t and that’s the unfortunate truth.
