Saturday, September 10, 2011
Marie Curie: The opposite of a woman
When discussing gender politics, one of my favorite examples to bring up is Marie Curie. For those who don't know, Marie Curie was a chemist/physicist in the late 19th century/early 20th century in Europe. Through hard work alongside her husband, she discovered the element on the periodic table known as "radium," which today is the key factor in radiation cancer treatment. Marie Curie is a wonderful example that not all women fit into the typical female stereotypes. To list a few: Curie was a terrible mother. She completely neglected her children for the benefits of her research and pawned them off onto her in-laws who practically raised them alone. In her partnership with her husband, professionally, she was the primary researcher, it was because of her that radium was discovered, and on the published paper regarding the discovery, her name appeared first (which signifies the primary contributor in the scientific world). This was at a time when it was thought that women should be at home, and men were the smarter and more professionally apt gender. The nobel prize committee wanted to reward the couples success, however refused to include Marie in that award, solely her husband. This illustrated the extreme gender bias of the period, especially in the world of science and academia. Her husband ultimately refused the award until the committee acknowledged Marie's contribution, which they did after some time. Curie certainly began to pave the way for women in academia to follow her, however, even today women still face bias. Curie is a primary example for why such bias is unprecedented and uncalled for.
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I think this is an interesting example to bring up. Although she did pave the way for many women following her, I don't think that in order to achieve something as great as she did you need to become the opposite of a woman. There are a lot of women who do great things while still be very feminine.
ReplyDeleteI think she is considered, or should be considered, a role model for women, especially women in fields that are dominated by men. I admire that she was passionate about chemistry and physics and she pursued her passion no matter what other people thought of her or who criticized her, saying that women shouldn't work in such positions. I think that her relationship with her husband was one of "equals" and was quite advanced for the time.
ReplyDeleteI've always thought of Marie Curie as an amazing woman for making such strides in such a male-led field like chemistry. Her achievements gave hope to and paved the way for many future women chemists, and therefore I agree that she is a great example of a role model for women. The fact that she neglected her children kind of takes away from her legacy, but like mdasso said, a woman doesn't have to completely reject the female stereotype to become a great woman.
ReplyDeleteThe title is a bit misleading here. She was an atypical woman for her time, but still a woman.
ReplyDeleteBy "opposite," I didn't mean that she was literally the "opposite" of a woman. I intended it to be a dramatic title indicating that she, in several ways, went against the gender stereotypes of her time period.
ReplyDeleteI think that she should the type of woman that girls look up to as a role model. She entered the "man" world of science and was the lead person in making a discovery. She may not have been the best mother, which I don't necessarily agree with, but she did make great strides for women through helping them get into a field that was typically a man's place.
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