Notes On Chapter One
And some thoughts on forgetting women.
Hey, lovely herstorian 👋🏻
So, I’m working away on the first chapter of my book, A Hidden History of Women in the Industrial Revolution. Because I do so much work on women in STEM history, I thought this would be the best chapter to start on.
Initially, the idea was to give you a bit of context and then jump in to tell you the stories of some women working in STEM in this era. Sounds like a good plan, right?
Unfortunately, that plan didn’t go to plan.
Here is what happened instead:
1. Procrastinated hard for hours, maybe days??? 🤷♀️
2. Sat down and asked myself, “Why am I procrastinating so hard? What is at the root of this?”
3. Took drastic action by hiding the plan for this chapter and all of my notes.
4. Start freewriting on the idea of women in STEM in the 18th and 19th centuries.
5. Emerged 2186 words later.
6. Read it back.
7. Realised I hadn’t written anything about actual women scientists or inventors from this period.
8. Said, “Oh, for F’s sake” out loud and made a coffee.
9. Mid-sip, realised that I did something much better.
10. Started polishing those 2186 words.
The Much Better Thing
In writing this chapter, I realised that it’s not enough to just talk about women in STEM in the industrial period. Sure, it’s great to talk about the word “scientist” being coined (by a man) to describe the scientific work of Mary Somerville. Or maybe to talk about the zillions of patents awarded to Sarah Guppy that included a bridge design, a machine that could toast bread and poach an egg at the same time, along with a bed that also doubled as an exercise bike. Or I could talk about how Caroline Herschel personally built the largest telescope of the 18th century and then used it, becoming the first British woman to discover a comet.
It also isn’t just enough to remind you of the Matilda Effect – the systemic bias against recognising women’s contributions to STEM. Which is an ongoing, 21st-century problem, too.
Doing both of those things is really important and, fear not, dear reader, for I have done them.
But I have also done the Much Better Thing, AKA talked about the process of recovery. I’ve included women like Mary Hays and Hannah Lawrance. They were not scientists or inventors in this period. They were women like me. They were trying to raise awareness of the problem of female invisibility in STEM by writing about the women who had been forgotten or written out of history.
Because what I want you to understand is that the process of recovery has been going on for centuries. (In fact, I’ve included a book from 1405 just to hammer this point home). It doesn’t belong to the industrial period any more than it belongs to the present day.
Knowing the process of recovery is also important because it brings some balance to the story of woman. Yes, there have been amazing times for women. Yes, you can thank a woman the next time you eat a piece of Stilton (yep, invented by a woman) or load a dishwasher (THANK YOU) but you also have to balance this against the uglier side of the story. The invisibility, the struggle, the fragmentary sources, the stereotyping, the we’ll-never-know-her-name-because-she-had-to-do-it-anyonmously-or-in-her-husband’s-name. All of those shitty parts are also part of the process of recovery.
On a personal note, it’s sad and emotionally draining to keep seeing the same story on repeat. Whatever century I’m working in, whatever field I’m exploring, it goes like this:
Woman innovates.
Woman gets few or no props for her innovation.
Woman dies.
Woman gets forgotten.
Later, woman gets unearthed by another woman.
That woman also dies.
Both women are forgotten.
Repeat.
Maybe we can call it the ‘cycle of forgetting’ or even the ‘Matilda Effect 2.0.’ Either way, I am *so* bored of it, so let’s stop doing it.
Until next time,
Kaye x
How refreshing. I’ve stopped; tell me more, please.