#woc in science

[mysharona1987]

“Suicidal five year olds” is honestly one of the most bleakly depressing things I have ever heard in my life.

[importantwomensbirthdays]

Inez Fung

Atmospheric scientist Inez Fung was born in Hong Kong in 1949. Fung is one of the world's foremost experts on climate and the carbon cycle. She is currently a professor of atmospheric science at UC Berkley. Fung has won numerous awards, including NASA's Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal, and the Carl Gustaf-Rossby Research Medal, the American Meteorological Society's highest honor for atmospheric scientists. She is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, and was a contributor to the Nobel Prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Image source: Whitehouse.gov

[unreal-unearthing]

In an ideal world, the Democratic establishment would realize they fucked up by running the most spineless centrist campaign to win over donors and a handful of swing voters while alienating their core base.

But we don’t live in an ideal world, so prepare for them to run the blandest centrist white man in 2028. And for them to completely abandon whatever progressive policies they hadn’t abandoned already.

[swordsintheforest]

Blue & Gold | Zara Alfonso 

[kamikazeanimated]

Kamikaze Webcomic Update!

Ep. 4 Act 1 Page 27: Ding Dong Ditched Again?

Markesha's getting a bit loopy, while Julian and Ritch are becoming resigned to getting a cold shoulder from Orson.

Learn more about Kamikaze at KMKZ.TV

[moonhedgegarden]

Over a year in the making.

All about pantheism, science and reconnection!

[whatwouldmariecurieactuallydo]

From one inspirational woman to many others! The first black female CEO of a Fortune 500 company , the amazing Ursula Burns!!

[justsomeguycore]

semiregular reminder to read the space between worlds by micaiah johnson

[peace-chats]

PEACEFUL LIFESTYLES P.C.S.

Peaceful Lifestyles, the Best Way to Live!

WOMEN PEACE MOVEMENTS 

Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF): Founded in 1915, it focuses on promoting women's involvement in peacebuilding. 

We hope the next hundred years women from the North expand to support women from poor countries, -not just try to be equal to the males in the North, and continue to do the same crimes, these males have done to the world. Right now, most women's movements are geared toward them trying to play 'equal' with the ‘big boys’  

Peacefullifestyles’ mission is trying to go beyond being ‘equal’ to being different and better. NMR

[pumpumdemsugah]

I don't trust white queer or trans people

What this "woc have higher levels of T" and "Black women don't fit eurocentric hormone levels" ( said by left leaning people ) shows is what many of you take away is WOC, especially Black women are seen as masculine because you think there is a biological basis for this idea and don't see it the same way people see police calling Black men and boys bigger or holding a gun to justify police brutality

White queer people love the " how can you tell someone's hormone levels without a test" until they're presented with a Black woman then they know and they're happy to say whatever unscientific neo-race science shit about Black women they like to prove a point about not making assumptions about peoples bodies but Black women aren't people, we're points, tools and vehicles for credibility so we're whatever your argument needs to work. Tbh i think the only reason many of you even use that line wrt trans people is trans people can be white. If only Black people were trans, many of you would be comfortable pushing ideas you call fascist when conservatives do it. White people always find a way to present themselves as more evolved than the lowly existence Black women occupy because why are you talking about my body and why do i see people claiming stereotypes that DO NOT apply to Black women apply to us like being hairy. At this point many of you view us as an empty vessel to dump and pin any negative idea on. We're literally seen as balded headed. I'm not interchangable with other WOC or other stereotypes

All many of you have taken away is treating Black women like a modern day 3rd gender so OF COURSE we're treated differently, our bodies are problem others need to learn to stomach and taken the focus off the fact we're seen as aggressive because of the legacy of slavery. You can not own people as property and present them as people, you need a justification for enslaving an entire group of people. You lot genuinely think Black women are being targeted because we are different and brutishly made. The blame goes from the people doing this to casting Black women's bodies as a gender conundrum that has yet to be solved. Slave masters were never confused.

Its easier to justify slavery and colonialism when you pretend the people you're doing it to aren't people the way you are as white person, they aren't civilised and many of you have come to this conclusion about us again and don't see the issue of YOU finding a scapegoat to distract from your violent behaviour.

You lot hear " Black women don't fit white femininity" and you think yes, its because they're universally all big Black brutes and you think its leftism because buzzword buzzword and we're meant to see this as solidarity because you got some self loathing Black woman to agree. Black women are seen as masculine as an excuse to abuse and rape us, its not simply some issue of representation or accepting us, its used to justify harm and many of you have taken a discussion of violence against Black women and erased violence against Black women from it. And then have the gall to call it solidarity and not white entitlement when you've ignored our history and suffering

[mysharona1987]

[importantwomensbirthdays]

Usha Goswami

Usha Goswami was born in 1960. Goswami is the director of the Centre for Neuroscience in Education and Professor of Cognitive Developmental Neuroscience at Cambridge University. A trailblazer in the application of neuroscience to education, her research focuses on the neural bases of speech and language impairments, rhythmic motor behavior, and developmental dyslexia. Goswami's findings have uncovered ways to diagnose developmental language disorders earlier, and opened the door to potential therapies. In 2019, she won the Yidan Prize for Education Research, and in 2021, she was elected to the Royal Society.

[sapphicsvibes]

my last post was also about the discussions of transmisogyny centering cis female athletes who are women of color. there is a wider conversation being had about transmisogyny in athletics, and that is that, trans women aren't even allowed to compete. before we start discussing how transmisogyny impacts not trans fems, we need to actually center the discussion around the heavily, transmisogynstic shit that is already happening.

and when we talk about how cis woc athletes being overly masculinized and decide to call it transmisogyny instead of what it actually is, racism, it sets us back. there is this understood idea that people can be indirectly impacted by transmisogyny, but unless the subjects of those conversations are transfeminine people, then the focus shouldn't be transmisogyny.

it should be racism. it should be the fact that the white, western gender binary and idea of femininty/womanhood is so fucked up that cis girls of color from a young age are viewed as more masculine, dangerous and larger than white women. we should be focusing on the complexities of misogynoir that black girls go through from childhood to adult hood where we are both masculinized and also hypersexualized and exposed to harmful race science that gets us preyed upon by older men. we should focus on how these conversations of masculinizing women of color comes to play in how white women and white afabs (yes, i know i said i dont like using afabs but i am starting ot use it when discussing the lived experience of white afab people and how that negatively impacts people of color in queer spaces) can utilize their privilege, tears, femininity, etc., to turn society against cis girls of color and how we are automatically seen as a threat to them

we need to talk about racialized misogyny when dicussing imane khelif, and how white women like jk rowling, who has a history of transmigoyny yes, but also anti-arab/MENA racism and islamaphobia, and is prominent in alt right groups, is using her platform to attack a possible muslim, MENA woman. and that's a big thing that hardly anyone talks about - Rowling is heavily islamphobia and anti-arab. when you se guys see her attacking a MENA woman, and decide to focus solely on transmisogyny, you are quite literally erasing a huge chunk of her bigotry.

yes, indirect transmisogyny comes to play, but when you are talking about racialized misogyny, you NEED to make sure that is the main focus - racism and misogyny, because if you don't you make it hard if not impossible for us to have any type of productive conversation. you guys being too afraid to call out racism and misogyny makes it seem like you are shielding white women/afabs and white society from the pain they have put women of color through for decades.

the same goes for misogynoir??? like when we are talking about misogynoir and them completely ignore it and lump it under transmisogyny, who does that help? not only does the black community have an issue with transmisogyny in general, but it also erases a term that we've come up with to help better discuss our oppression.

also, this isn't to say that trans woc don't face racialized misogyny and misogynoir (black transfems!) because they do. but it should be understood that while THEY face these things, transmisogyny is something that should also center them. and while we, as non trans fem women do face racialized misogyny/misogynoir - yeah, sometimes we can draw comparisons between transmisogyny, but we shouldn't be the ones taking the lead or taking platforms.

and last but not least, the way you guys who are claiming what is happening to cis female athletes is transmisogynistic. Do you know how many trans people, who aren't trans fem, that i've seen saying

"see, this is why we need to talk about transmisogyny affecting non transfems! xyz athlete was actually born a woman, she's not a man, she is afab! she has a vagina!" do you realize how that language is terfy, do you realize how you guys will try to hijack convos of transmisogyny while also reinforcing transmisogynistic requirements of what makes a woman a woman?

[fixtheaxel]

"Female and male binaries were made with the interest of perisex people in mind ... they also benefit all perisex people, particularly in the medical field" I don't think women benefit from the male-female binary medically or otherwise.

Benefit in relation to intersex people. The same way white women benefit from the medical abuse of woc. Intersex people have been historically used as 'natural experiments', in order to test theories on nature/vs nurture and benefit perisex bodies. (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352250X22002603)

All perisex people have benefitted from the purposeful and prolonged exclusion of intersex people from the medical field, which was primarily done through the male-female binary.

Intersex people have been exploited for the benefit of perisex men AND perisex women.

I agree that at the end of the day nobody benefits from the binary, but perisex people (including women) benefit in relation to intersex people, and it is important to acknowledge that.

[harrypottermovieproblems]

On Paapa Essiedu as Severus Snape (HBO Harry Potter)

As HBO's Harry Potter series rolls into pre-production - a sentence that, ten years ago, would have undoubtedly brought me extreme joy but in 2024 simply makes me regret the money that will be flowing into anti-trans politicians' bank accounts because of it - casting rumors have started to leak out.

The first of these is that I May Destroy You's Paapa Essiedu is being courted for a role as Severus Snape. As a former ardent Harry Potter enjoyer, I have several things I would like to say about this, and will do so in the form of a likely incohesive yet numbered list.

I've never personally seen Essiedu's work, but I hear that he is an exceptionally talented and charismatic actor, and I wish him well.

Unfortunately, I will likely be judgmental of any actor who decides to condone JKR's bigotry and ongoing wealth by signing on to this project.

I'm enthusiastic (or would be, if I could be enthusiastic about HBO HP to begin with) about the idea of introducing more actors of color to play Harry Potter characters. I was a long-standing proponent of a WoC Hermione, including the casting of Noma Dumezweni in the unfortunately atrocious Cursed Child, and also of a mixed-race Harry.

I find it interesting that production thinks it is a good idea to cast a handsome Man of Color as a canonically unattractive, prejudiced, perpetually antagonistic, former hate group member who essentially joined the Wizarding version of the KKK and who is mainly remembered as an incel who regularly bullied children, including the child of the (presumably white, though this casting is yet to be seen) woman who was the object of his unwanted affections and for whose murder he was partially responsible.

Severus Snape, of course, is a complex character who deserves (if any of these characters 'deserve' anything when HBO HP will, again, be funneling money into the pockets of the anti-trans movement in the UK) to have his story told in a nuanced way.

He is still a character who signed up to be a Death Eater, which has always been Harry Potter's allegory for a violent white supremacist hate group.

Time will tell whether this casting will be representative of the series as a whole; that is to say, whether there will be enough actors of color within the show in general so as to make casting a Black actor in this specific role no longer problematic.

Time will also tell whether James Potter and company will be cast as actors of color, or whether the bullying flashback in OotP is about to take on a wholly new implication despite, and I cannot reiterate this enough, Severus Snape being the one who eventually joined the genocidal hate group.

We have yet to see whether the remaining Harry Potter fandom at large reacts to this casting decision with any more grace than racist Lord of the Rings fans did on release of the Rings of Power TV series or Star Wars fans did at any point within the last decade. I hope for Essiedu's sake that the mistakes of the past are not repeated, and wish him peace and protection in the face of the potential onslaught to come.

With the creation of this show obviously already stirring controversy from LGBT advocates, I can't help but wonder if this news has been dropped as a distraction, or even a sacrificial tidbit, so that the ensuing backlash from awful fucking people will allow production to decry any criticism of the new show without having to re-address JKR's ongoing opposition to both science and basic human rights.

Once again, I hope that this is not the case, because Essiedu specifically and indeed all actors from marginalized groups generally deserve much, much better.

xoxo

[alittlebitofwonk]

@bonesandthebees has me thinking about book recs, so I’m posting some of my favorites in case anyone wants something new to read!

FANTASY

Priory of the Orange Tree: This is a BRICK of a book. The hardcover would make a good weapon. But it’s also an incredibly good read. A well built fantasy world, dragons, sapphic romance, and it centers WOC characters. The prequel, A Day of Fallen Night, is also amazing.

Legends and Lattes: This is such a cozy little book! It’s fantasy, sent in a DND inspired world where a retired orc mercenary opens a coffee shop. Also, sapphic romance side plot. It’s very cute.

A Thousand Steps Into Night: A Japanese folklore inspired novel where the protagonist must make bargains with spirits to avoid becoming a demon. I learned a lot about Japanese legends and folklore in this one, and the protagonist, Miuko, is just so earnest and lovable.

SCI-FI

Project Hail Mary: Andy Weir does it again. A fantastic novel featuring a struggle across the galaxy to save earth as we know it, the most endearing alien EVER, really cool futuristic science, and a reminder that humanity also instills in us all a sense of good.

The Kaiju Preservation Society: This book is so much fuuuun. It’s just a blast. Inter dimensional travel, giant monsters, conservation, and a protagonist that had me cackling with laughter the whole time.

MYSTERY/THRILLER

The Final Girl Support Group: When the survivors of several horror-movie esque massacres are all targeted by a new killer, how will they survive? A really awesome story about a bunch of badass middle aged women who kinda hate each other teaming up to identify their would-be killer… before it’s too late.

Gone Girl: Nick Dunne didn’t kill his wife. He has no idea where she is, or what happened, and he swears he didn’t hurt her… but no one really believes him. Meanwhile, the truth is far more interesting, and a testament to the phrase “hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.” This is THE female rage story.