A Unique Perspective

I turned on Nova and the title was “Picture a Scientist” S48/E06, women in STEM and I figured it would be all positive but it is all about gender discrimination and sexual harassment at work.

What a great show! From PBS,

Women make up less than a quarter of STEM professionals in the United States, and numbers are even lower for women of color. But there is a growing group of researchers who are writing a new chapter for women scientists, exposing longstanding discrimination, and leading the way in making science more inclusive. A biologist, a chemist, and a geologist lead viewers on a journey through their own experiences in the sciences, ranging from outright harassment to years of subtle slights. Along the way, from cramped laboratories to spectacular field stations, scientific visionaries, including social scientists, neuroscientists, and psychologists, provide new perspectives on how to make science itself more diverse, equitable, and open to all. (Premiered April 14, 2021)

I have a friend that I lost track of but I remember a story she told, she was a project manager at a big engineering company. When “he” suggested something in a project meeting everyone hopped to it. However, once she transitioned all of a sudden it was she had gotten lobotomy, at one project meeting she was asked to get the coffee.

While a trans man told me that all of sudden it is as that he has a brain.

I am always reminded of Judy Collins song “Both Sides Now” I would like to change it from…

I've looked at clouds from both sides now

From up and down and still somehow

To…

I've looked at gender from both sides now

From male and female and still somehow life is the same.