It probably goes without saying, but 2020 has been a difficult year. While some days we had to struggle through personal pain in the midst of a pandemic and an increasingly rocky media landscape, we continued to turn out work that we’re proud of and to feature talented and thoughtful writers. The Lady Science editorial team has looked back on the year, and we hope you’ll find a moment of distraction and pause, as we did, in some of our favorite pieces from 2020. Also: be sure to check out the Best of the Lady Science Podcast for something to listen to.

Leila, Editor-in-Chief

When will sexbots reflect more than stereotypical male fantasies? by Joelle Renstrom 

Sometimes an overlooked or taboo market to advocate for diversity, sexbot companies are dominated by men who pour their own homogenous desires into their products. Joelle, however, sees how the singular vision of submissive, white, cis sexbots poses a problem for our future as sexual preference for machines is on the rise. Without representation of diverse bodies and desires in sexbots, Joelle shows that we are anticipating a future that perpetuates dehumanizing stereotypes of bodies that deviate from the white cis “norm” and marginalizes difference of desire. 

Through the Aquarium Glass by Dolly Church 

I love learning about the natural history crazes that swept Victorian England in the 19th century, and Dolly served up a delightful exploration of the “aquatic craze” in one of my favorite features from the year. Intended as an educational experience for the masses, aquariums became a gendered hobby dominated by men who sought to control their environment in a rapidly changing industrial world. Dolly shows how this trend of the past stretches into the present with the “wife acceptance factor” of men who wish to install large home aquariums. Dolly’s feature, though a seemingly niche topic, does what I think good history should do, uncover the historical roots of oppressions so that we can dismantle them in the present. 

What did women fast for when they fasted for God? by Rafaela Ferraz (CW: disordered eating, anorexia)

When thinking about protest, fasting doesn’t immediately come to mind, but as Rafaela argues, for pious women, it could be a way to gain power and agency in a patriarchal world that denies them such control. As was the case for devout Catholic Alexandrina Maria de Costa, who gave up food to enter into holy union with God and, in doing so, was able to gain social capital in the Church that otherwise would have been beyond her reach. Women have always found ways to express themselves in a world that would have them invisible and silent, and Rafaela’s piece shows us yet another way that women have used what’s available to them to be seen and heard. 

Anna, Editor-in-Chief

Zoo Stories by Erica X Eisen

I love pieces that force us to confront our perceptions of the world, particularly what is "natural" or "unnatural," and how we map human norms onto nature for often conflicted, confusing reasons. Eisen looks here at heteronormativity and the creation of ideals about family and sexuality in the way humans capture, observe, and preserve nature and "natural" animal behavior in zoos. "Gay penguins" cannot liberate queer people, only reproduce their assimilation to heteronormative culture.

A Thousand Different Ways by Samantha Hancox-Li

The ongoing controversy over J.K. Rowling's transphobic campaigning, and the terrifying entry of TERF ideologies into U.K. policymaking cries out for lucid, exacting refutation, which Hancox-Li delivers here. What's more, this piece addresses a larger question that haunts queer liberation; whether complexity and multiplicity can ever overpower the restrictive and prescriptive narratives of queerness that science attempts to provide, and which are so easily co-opted by bigots.

Unknown Natures by Kylee Pedersen

Exhausting online debates about the value of the literary canon are no match for a close read. While Lady Science resists retreading old ground, we value the new interpretations our writers bring to classic works within the framework of science and gender. Pedersen excavates the environmental themes of “Frankenstein” to offer a new view of the mastery of nature by Western science, tying the drive that underpins Victor's misguided experiments to the conquest of the wilderness in North America.

Sarah, Features Editor

The Curious Case of the Infant Sappho by Marlis Schweitzer

The pitch for this article immediately piqued my interest—a toddler who composed and sang songs while asleep and who eventually did both for show in the scientific theater of the mid-19th-century seemed the stuff of a novel. Indeed, the life of the angelic Louisa Vinning, the Infant Sappho, borders on the edge of magic and Schweitzer deftly navigates the complicated story that revels in the overlap—of theater and science, of innocence and artful proficiency, of peaceful sleep and demonic possession. Louisa and her cohort of prodigal “Infants” was incredibly young yet occupied a very adult space in the world of scientific education. Marlis opens her article with three-year-old Louisa standing on a piano sleeping through a chandelier crashing down around her—perhaps in Louisa’s illustrious tale, this is the most shocking.

The Clean Beauty Movement Is Killing the Environment by Cristina Montemayor

The title of this essay surprised me. Clean beauty, a large focus of the beauty industry and my own medicine cabinet, comes with a short but troublesome history. As someone who spends far too much time finding the cure-all skincare, I am quick to see a clever marketing quip and take it as truth—it says clean and it must be good! Montemayor writes about the plant bakuchiol, explaining “the example of bakuchiol proves that just because a natural ingredient works doesn’t mean that it can be considered clean.” Clean beauty might be natural but Montemayor reminds us that natural isn’t necessarily better, especially if it’s also destroying an endangered plant. The best essays make the reader take a moment and think and hopefully make a change—however that might develop. Smart questions lead to smart intrigues.

 Writing Women Back into the History of the Paralympics by Pallavi Podapati

Podapati crafts an article with several layers of questions. At the time of submission, the Paralympics, like the Olympics, had been postponed to at least the next year. She goes beyond filling the gaps of the history of Paralympics and instead examines why the history of the development of the event has focused on the male body. Podapati draws into question the definition of an “athletic body” and carefully and succinctly nudges the reader to challenge the very nature of physicality and sport. Leaving women out of the development of the Paralympics, an integral part of disability studies, paints not just an insufficient picture but relates a false history of the paramount event. In March, the next Paralympics, to be held in Tokyo, were postponed to August 2021. Time will tell if those dates are met.

Rebecca, Managing Editor

Re-evaluating ‘masking’ and gender in autism research by Nicola Watkinson 

March seems so long ago that I find much of it hard to recall, but I have a distinct memory of talking to my sister over Zoom about Nicola Watkinson’s fantastic article and watching her nod excitedly in recognition. Problematic stereotypes about autism abound, of course, and Nicola does an excellent job of explaining how they hurt women and girls in particular. She also offers thoughtful, specific suggestions for what researchers and autism experts can do to improve diagnosis and treatment for autistic women.

What does ‘unintended’ pregnancy really mean? by Akilah Wise 

My favorite thing about editing articles for Lady Science is that I often get the chance to see a topic from a totally new perspective. Akilah’s Wise’s examination of the official definition of “unintended pregnancy”—which has remained virtually unchanged since the 1950s—is a data-filled reminder that decisions about pregnancy, childbirth, and fertility are nuanced, complicated, and profound, and it deftly argues that public health studies must reflect that.

Maria Ylagan Orosa and the Chemistry of Resistance by Jessica Gingrich

I grew up in a city with a large Filipino-American community, and I distinctly associate the flavors of Filipino food with my childhood. Nothing takes me back to elementary school potlucks and community festivals like the tang of adobo or the crunch of lumpia. So obviously I was delighted to read this feature of food scientist Maria Ylagan Orosa. Even if you don’t share my childhood nostalgia, you’re sure to love this exciting tale of science and survival, which Jessica Gingrich presents in a way that makes it clear that Orosa deserves her own biopic.

KJ, Social Media Editor

On the Meaning of Home in a More-Than-Human World by Justine Parkin

This year has been a lot, and even that feels tiresome to say by this point. Still, this period really gives us a chance—if we actually take it—to think about how we belong to one another, or rather, how we ultimately never fully belong to ourselves. Parkin shows that whether we are talking about society or our bodies, there is something shaky about the idea of the individual: the “inside” and “outside” of our homes, our communities, our environment, ourselves are always rather fuzzed boundaries. Belonging requires commitment, and that includes undoing so many of the structures of oppression and erasure that prevent genuine interconnectedness.

Plant Flagging and the Queer Ecology Hanky Project by Caroline Tracey

This is the third year I’ve been able to do our Queer Science series for Pride Month, and I am excited by how we keep working with writers who continue pushing at what the concept of “queer science” can mean. Tracey’s piece really challenges both parts of the term, showcasing artists who are reconnecting the relationship between inquiry and expression by building upon a playful and complex historical code of desire. In the process these hankies redraw the lines of affinity and affection between humans and the broader world around them.

The Patriarchy of Plant-Based Food by Kristen Hartke

This piece generated a definite amount of, uh, heat from writers at certain elite publications right after it came out—which is probably why I stand by editing it even more now. Hartke provides crisp reportage about some of the leading women in vegan cuisine in order to question why, exactly, that mode of cooking has only been treated seriously in American culture when taken on by men. When does a way of eating become credible? How does food reflect our ideas about expertise and foundational knowledge? What does a veggie burger really need to do? Why not remember the words you wrote?