Several weeks ago, the Nobel Prize-winning scientist Tim Hunt made the news for his comments about women scientists. The remarks, made at a luncheon in honor of women scientists, included the sentiment that labs should be segregated by gender. “Let me tell you about my trouble with girls,” he said. “You fall in love with them, they fall in love with you, and when you criticize them, they cry!”
The backlash was swift and fierce, and women scientists took to social media to post pictures of themselves at work — peering through microscopes, collecting samples, and in surgical garb — along with the hashtag #DistractinglySexy. The posts lampooned Dr. Hunt’s comments by showing the real women at work in science in often unglamorous situations and attire, but his comments pointed to a common sentiment, one not relegated to the world of science — that women in a predominantly male field are viewed as a potential distraction because of their sexuality.
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