Editor Picks for 2019
In years past, our end-of-year Editor Picks have highlighted five favorite pieces from the year, but in 2019, we expanded the type of content we publish by including more personal essays and commentary on current events and historical anniversaries. To feature more of the scope of what we cover at Lady Science, each of our editors have chosen three of their favorite pieces from the year and shared why they love them so much. From stories that turn the reader’s gaze to the margins of science’s history to the personal experiences of how science intersects with our daily lives, these articles in various ways look to the past, present, and future of science and technology in the hope of creating something better.
LEILA
How Desire Built One of the Best Information Archives Online by Thursday Bram
When I saw Thursday’s pitch for our Science and Desire come in, I immediately knew I wanted to run it. She wrote about Archive of Our Own, an online archive of fanfiction, created by and for fans and users, which implements feminist human-computer interaction principles. AO3’s creators have established an information archive that doesn’t censor writers’ desires while protecting users at the same time. At a time when the internet landscape seems acutely hostile, especially for minoritized people, this piece introduces us to a more inclusive and equitable community online, and shows us what information archives and social media platforms can achieve when users’ experiences and knowledge are valued throughout the design and development process.
Feminist Visions of Science and Utopia in Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain’s “Sultana’s Dream” by Thomas Lewton
As a huge science fiction fan, I am probably predisposed to liking this piece, which takes us through “Sultana’s Dream,” a short science fiction story by Indian writer Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain. The story itself is fascinating, but I love the way Thomas puts Rokeya’s story, written in 1905, in conversation with current feminist philosophers and historians of science. He ultimately shows that Rokeya was advocating for a feminist vision of science and society in literary form nearly a century before it became an established field of study in the West. Thomas’s piece showcases what I think science fiction does when it’s at its best: speaking to a present moment by imagining a better future.
The Black Women Food Scientists Who Made Meals for the Astronauts by Charnell Chasten Long
When we put out a call for pitches on our series commemorating the 50th anniversary of Apollo, we didn’t exactly know what kind of stories people would send in, but we knew we didn’t want the series to be dominated by astronauts, who would surely be the main topic of many other commemorative articles. Charnell absolutely delivered what we were hoping for with her piece about the Black women food scientists contracted by NASA. By digging into archives of historically Black newspapers, Charnell finds a window into the careers of Black women in the space program, who otherwise have gone unrecognized for their work. More than introducing us to women we probably have never heard of, Charnell’s essay largely became a compelling case for the preservation of the historically Black press as vital resource for recovering the history of Black life and Black women, both during this moment in history and beyond.
ANNA
Blood in the Soil: Fascist Ideology and Italian Nature Conservation by Erica X Eisen
Since 2017, we have been publishing work about the rise of fascist ideologies from perspectives not often seen in other publications. Erica’s piece on the history and aesthetics of ecofascism and the gendered conceptions of nature that are deployed by authoritarians demonstrates that the magazine’s core topics are not narrow and niche, but essential fulcrums for understanding our political moment.
It’s time to stop lionizing Dian Fossey as a conservation hero by Michelle A. Rodrigues
One of the things we are particularly interested in right now is engaging working scientists with the mission of Lady Science, and providing opportunities for women scientists in particular to communicate about the importance of the history of their own fields to the way science is taught and practiced today. I especially appreciate Michelle’s courage in this piece in openly taking on the foundational myths of her science, with an eye toward improving her students’ understanding of the high stakes of ethical research practice.
Progress Studies and other Merry-Go-Rounds by KJ Shepherd
I am perhaps most proud of the growth of our team in 2019, and the skill, expertise, and perspective they bring to Lady Science. Any time we have a chance to externalize our discussions about issues that we hold strong opinions about, I’m so grateful that we have a platform to do so, one kept afloat by our amazing team. KJ’s take on the Progress Studies discourse cuts deeper than anything else I read on the topic, sidestepping the obvious hurt feelings of academics to ask searching questions about the disastrous social and political entanglements of contemporary science.
KJ
What really happened to the woman who claimed to give birth to a cat? by Leila Kozma
I picked this feature because it starts on a premise that is almost comical to contemporary ears: “Who in their right mind would believe someone who said they gave birth to a cat?” Leila quickly turns that premise on its head, revealing a fascinating web of sexual violence, legal constructs of truth, and biblically-informed reproductive models. What’s most horrifying is the illogic that endures about what, exactly, counts as “real” rape. Centuries after Agnes Bowker’s case, women’s stories about their sexual assault—and the methods they take to escape their assaulters—are still held to absurd standards. That initial question, once nearly a setup to a joke, quickly becomes something more profound: “Who believes women?”
What it's like to be a trans scientist with imposter syndrome by Juliet Johnston
Without a doubt, my favorite thing I’ve done during my time at Lady Science has been editing our Queer Science series. It’s allowed us to feature amazing writers from the LGBTQ+ community—and this piece by Juliet Johnston truly floored me. Juliet shows how the phenomenon of imposter syndrome is complicated by being trans in the sciences: at what point is self-doubt actually a manifestation of outright hostility and discrimination? Juliet showcases other voices within this piece, those both here and gone, adding poignant breadth to her argument. It’s a touching reminder that for trans, nonbinary, and queer scientists, the fight continues—a necessary message not just for Pride but year-round.
The Digital is Ephemeral: Ebooks and the Future of Library Collections by Helen Georgas
This was our very first piece of 2019, but it’s left me with haunted with questions for the remainder of the year. What, exactly, are ownership and curation in the digital era? Or, rather: how has the idea of possession been undone as massive publishing corporations move toward a subscription model of digital rights? And how has this shift metastasized marginalization already found in libraries’ collections? In other words: how are libraries battlegrounds for information as we continue moving away from physical text? Helen’s piece is a reminder that digital space is always politicized space—and that access in itself is not a neutral goal.
REBECCA
How Careful She Must Be: Midwives, Maternal Minds, and Monstrous Births by Sara Ray
Years ago, a historian of medicine told me that the thing he most wants people to understand about his work is that people in the past weren’t stupid. In her exploration of “monstrous births,” Sara Ray takes the mothers and midwives she writes about on their own terms, expertly leading readers through the logic that made them believe that a pregnant woman’s impure thoughts could harm her fetus. She gives us some juicy primary sources quotes (“[T]he people accused the woman of having worked so much around a young pig, that the creature must have always been with her, sitting with her at the table or on her lap,” yikes!) but doesn’t revel in their absurdity. Quite the opposite: by the time I got to the end of the article, I found myself wondering if, when we moralize about the choices of pregnant women today, we are really any more “rational" than our forebears.
Mary Hunter Austin, Chronicler of the American West, Born 151 Years Ago Today by Anna Reser
Today, my home is in Philadelphia, but I grew up in Southern California, and the West will always call to me. Reading Anna’s reflection on Mary Hunter Austin, I’m a child again, camping with my family, staring out over the Southwest desert in Joshua Tree or the Sierra Nevada mountains in Yosemite. As is so often the case, Anna’s writing hits me right in the feels. On days when I get homesick for the lands of my youth, I inevitably come back to this essay.
Tinderboxes by Anastasia Selby
Once again, I admit that this piece caught my attention for somewhat personal reasons. In my lifetime, I have watched California’s “fire season” go from a sometimes-scary but manageable natural disaster cycle to an annual crisis that threatens the people I love. But this piece has remained one of my year’s favorites because it does what my favorite Lady Science essays do: it effortlessly puts a personal story in historical and social context. Anastasia connects her deeply personal experience as a wild land firefighter to systemic issues of harassment in the United States Fire Service, the historical context of land management, and the culture of toxic masculinity.
