The Finkbeiner Test
In Spite Of... | Test ❤️
Debunking the “In spite of being a woman… | In spite of being a housewife…” stereotypes in science!
The fact is, when you emphasize a woman’s sex, you inevitably end up dismissing her science!
Now for the highlight of this blogpost –
Well, much akin to the Bechdel
Test, (that we had discussed yesterday here on our blog), I was pleasantly surprised
to see a related Test that had taken its cue and clue from the Bechdel Test!
It’s titled, the Finkbeiner Test!
Again, it’s indeed quite inspiring to see how a very insightful and perceptive blogpost written by a writer on a topic that she considered so pertinent, was able to catapult her to instant fame and popularity!!!
Yes! Christie Aschwanden, a blogger, podcaster and public speaker, had written a blogpost for Double X Science on 5th March 2013, on a topic close to her heart –
The title of the post was - What matters in stories about women scientists?
Her argument is quite simple.
Men dominate most fields of science. And by chance if a woman gets to do science or make any high-profile achievements in science, the first thing that the media outlets tend to foreground is her sex.
In short, her scientific achievement is not foregrounded. Rather, her sex is!
Let’s call it “A lady who…”
The hallmark of “A lady who…”
thus treating its subject’s sex as her most defining detail.
So, she’s not just a great scientist, she’s a woman! And if she’s also a wife and a mother, those roles get emphasized too!
Christie adds in that blogpost -
Ann Finkbeiner, my colleague at Last Word On Nothing, has had enough. As she explained here yesterday, she plans to write about an impressive astronomer and “not once mention that she’s a woman.”
It’s not that Finkbeiner objects to drawing attention to successful female scientists. She’s produced many of these stories herself. The issue, she says, is that when you emphasize a woman’s sex, you inevitably end up dismissing her science.
Christie goes on –
It’s a fine idea. In the spirit of the Bechdel test, a metric that cartoonist and author Alison Bechdel created to measure gender bias in film, I’d like to propose a Finkebeiner test for stories about women in science. The test could apply to profiles of women in other fields, too.
To pass the Finkbeiner test, the story cannot mention -
The fact that she’s a woman
Her husband’s job
Her child care
arrangements
How she nurtures her
underlings
How she was taken aback by
the competitiveness in her field
How she’s such a role
model for other women
How she’s the “first woman
to…”
Guess what?
Her friend and fellow blogger, vociferously supported Christie on her post, and also gave a comment reiterating her stance on the subject.
Thus it was, that her friend Ann Finkbeiner – a fellow blogger, whom she had cited as an example, ended up getting into the Hall of Fame with the famous Finkbeiner test to her honour!
Christie and Ann Finkbeiner, then, give us a clarion call, to report on female scientists without emphasising their gender!
So who pray, is Ann Finkbeiner?
Well, Ann is a science writer who has contributed to various publications including Scientific American, Nature, Science, Hakai Magazine, Quanta Magazine, Discover, Sky & Telescope, and Astronomy. She is also known for her popular book titled, A Grand and Bold Thing.
More power to all ye bloggers and vloggers out there who are making your unique voices heard! Who knows? One day you might have such a high-impact appellative or a sobriquet to your name! ❤️
So proud of you all!
PS: You may want to read a similar post in our past blogpost titled, In spite of being a woman... HERE
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