Because the website said it’s 24 March somewhere around the world for the best part of 50 hours, I’m hoping the fact it’s now 25 March in Australia will be forgiven :)
I first noticed this on Cheryl Morgan’s blog (Hi Cheryl) and was immediately captivated by it – with my new found realisations about women and how we are viewed and treated in the world, I’ve become all for celebrations of kick-arse women who manage to defy these things and achieve something special.
Then I started to read some of the articles, and after reading this one from The Independent in London, realised that these fabulous women are still having to deal with expectations to do with their sex rather than their abilities and are still being thwarted by it.
And it made me angry. I mean, I quite liked science at high school – had a bit of a knack for chemistry and studied biology as part of my HSC (although physics and I didn’t really get along) and one of my sisters did her university degree as a combined arts/science (majoring in zoology). I could easily have chosen to go a scientific path, and it makes me mad that at times without my even knowing it, my career path would have been hampered by the fact that I have bumpy bits and might have the gall to go and get pregnant and leave for a while or even put my family as a priority and apparently have a tendency to get emotional at times.
Okay, yes I do have a tendency to get emotional at times and yes, sometimes that’s wholy related to my menstrual cycle, but dammit I know PLENTY of men who get emotional at times as well, and it doesn’t seem to hold them back. ‘Sorry Jones, can’t give you that promotion you deserve – the blokes said you threw a tizzy over the coffee running out the other day …’
*Deep breath in, deep breath out* Anyway, back to Ada Lovelace, who wrote the world’s first computer programs and who died much too young and before her vision for what these new machines could be was realised. The idea behind Ada Lovelace Day is to celebrate female scientists.
I’m ashamed to admit I don’t really know a lot about any female scientists. I know that some of my friends and colleagues are scientists, but it’s not something I’ve ever really spoken to them about. I know there are amazing female scientists out there, such as Elizabeth Blackburn, the first Australian woman to win a Nobel prize.
So for Ada Lovelace Day 2010, my promise is that this year, I’m going to pay more attention to female scientists and when ALD comes around in 2011, I’ll have a post to write about the amazing women that I’ve learnt of and the things they do that should be lauded around the world.