‘—

Azel Kahan Londa Schiebinger Assignment

In her essay, “Skeletons in the Closet,” Londa Schiebinger rhetorically asks why female anatomy gained traction during the eighteenth and nineteenth century in order to apply the focus of her argument on the scientific aptitudes that were unavailable to women at the time. During an era of freedom fighting and movements for equal rights (race, class) it may seem obvious that the science of women became a subject of mass inquiry by many researchers connected to the struggle for equality among genders, yet Schiebinger emphasizes the importance behind the ulterior political motivations regarding the publication of female science. Schiebinger’s response to her own question indicates that the publication of women related studies in the scientific community during this time period carried some type of bias or pseudo-scientific hypothesis, which created deeper differences further separating men from women in society both naturally and morally. The eighteenth century portrayal of gender specific skeletal structures by Marie-Geneviève Charlotte drives home this point, with the claim about skull size being proportional to intelligence showing how early steps in modern science were actually a step backwards for women. Such evidence also applied to studies of non-white people and in this way, science as a field of study was being used as a social tool to justify the divide between genders and race, and maintain the social hierarchy that favored wealthy white men. Schiebinger continues her response by explaining how medical advancements could have had a more positive effect had people abandoned “ancient authority”, or simply changed from a traditionally archaic mindset. Because this failed to happen immediately, ideas of superiority and inferiority emerged directly from the scientific world and carried out consequences in nineteenth century social standard. Thus science and society intermingled to reinforce the position of men and their desire to dominate every subject relevant to civilization.