Invicta Vlogs
Women that History Forgot
I first heard of Rosalind Franklin recently and was shocked that I had not heard of her remarkable work sooner. During the race to discover the structure of DNA, Franklin took the infamous X-ray crystallography photograph of a DNA molecule that displayed its 'X shape'. A scientist she was working with then shared her picture with Watson and Crick (historians still debate whether Franklin gave her permission for her work to be distributed), who went on to win a Nobel Prize for the model they built using Franklin's work. If someone asked me about the DNA molecule, the names 'Watson' and 'Crick' would instantly come to mind, so why had Franklin been erased from history for so long?
While each case is individual, and we must consider the context, there is a repeating theme throughout history of women not getting the credit they deserve for their work, suggesting misogyny has altered the accuracy of our history books.
If you search 'who invented the hair straightener' on the Internet, you will likely come across the name Isaac Shero. However, Shero patented the device in 1909, but Ada Harris filed a patent for a device in 1893 but failed to find investors to transform the idea into a successful business. The drawing for the device resembles a stark difference from the modern-day straightener, but the idea of two hot flat irons between which the hair is clamped and straightened prevails. Furthermore, Harris was also a civil justice activist, ran a community grocery store, and advocated for more black women to vote, telling a newspaper, "my greatest ambition is for my race". History forgot Harris.
Chien-Shiung Wu also fell victim to contemporary sexism. Scientists began to investigate the idea of parity symmetry in the mid-1900s - the idea that any particle process should happen in the same way if everything was flipped symmetrically. Scientific theorists Tsung-Dao Lee and Yang Chen-Ning were working to prove that parity symmetry could be broken during interactions involving weak nuclear forces, but they had no evidence. Chien-Shiung Wu worked on the Manhattan Project before building an experiment in 1956 to test Lee and Yang's theory. Her findings provided Lee and Yang with proof that their theory was correct: parity symmetry was violated during the process. Lee and Yang shared the 1957 Nobel prize for physics for their work. History failed to credit Wu.
Away from the science laboratory, sexism prevailed. I'm sure most of us have played a heated game of Monopoly with our family and friends. For a long time, people predominantly credited Charles Darrow with the competitive game. However, it derives from Lizzie Magie's 'The Landlord's Game', which Darrow played in 1932 before distributing the game himself as Monopoly. After Darrow's success began to grow, Parker Brothers (who would later become Hasbro) bought the copyrights from him and the rights to Magie's original patents for a mere $500. Ironically, Magie designed the game as a political statement to criticise monopolisation, but Darrow's version became more celebratory of the economic principle. Monopoly has since sold 275 million boards, with an estimated gross profit of US$1.375 billion. When you adjust the cost of the patent with inflation, history left Magie with $8600.
Everyone credited with these inventions, and others, surely made important contributions, but why is history selective in who it labels as a trailblazer? While we cannot go back and grant these people the credit they deserve, we can discuss their contributions today and commemorate them as the innovators and pioneers that history has wrongfully not recognised them as for too long. Furthermore, these are only the uncredited women who have eventually been discovered and celebrated: there are many more trailblazers whose gender identity, sexuality, race, or background have kept them from being credited.
At Invicta, we have a diverse and talented pool of students who have and will achieve incredible things, and we can't wait to celebrate all of their achievements with pride.
Olivia Moss
Head Prefect
Sources of information:
- Chávez, K. (2017). 19 Groundbreaking Discoveries by Women That Were Credited to Men. [online] Marie Claire. Available at: https://www.marieclaire.com/culture/g5026/female-discoveries-credited-to-men/.
- Jones, R. (2021). Sexism in Science: Was Rosalind Franklin Robbed of a Nobel Prize? [online] LMU this Week. Available at: https://lmuthisweek.lmu.edu/2021/03/22/sexism-in-science-was-rosalind-franklin-robbed-of-a-nobel-prize/
- McKinney, K. (2017). The Forgotten Genius Behind Your Flat Iron. [online] Racked. Available at: https://www.racked.com/2017/1/4/14014216/hair-straightener-flat-iron-inventor-ada-harris
- Tomar, D.A. (2017). 9 Women Who Changed History…and the Men Who Took Credit. [online] TheBestSchools.org. Available at: https://thebestschools.org/magazine/brilliant-woman-greedy-men/
- Webb, R. (n.d.). Chien-Shiung Wu. [online] New Scientist. Available at: https://www.newscientist.com/people/chien-shiung-wu/
