Blog 10

                The first four chapters of A Feeling for the Organism describe the early life of Barbra McClintock, her journey in becoming a scientist, and the struggles she faced during her years of research. One of the most notable struggles that McClintock faced was being a woman in the field of science, which was especially thought of as only a man’s profession during her time. Even though she was extremely well renowned and respected, finding and holding a job was one of the greatest difficulties she had to face often. She did her best to not let such issues get in her way. She stood for her freedom as a woman in science and would often go completely against gender stereotypes to the point that many would forget that she was a woman. This is something I can relate to since I also choose to not follow most feminine standards such as always having to wear makeup, dressing pretty or sexy every day, and to be dainty in daily activities. I can empathize with McClintock’s efforts of focusing on her career in science and not on being a woman, yet others during her time did not share the same empathy. The fact that she was a woman would always be a road block for her which was compounded by her overzealousness of not taking a “woman’s job” and not excepting outside help from her male colleagues. I appreciate that these days it is more common for woman to hold jobs that used to be considered only for men, especially in the scientific field. Yet, the issues of prejudice against woman that McClintock faced are still present. If people recognized that what is important in the scientific field is achieving the internal goods of fulfilling the purpose of science, than issues such as gender prejudice would likely not be a problem.

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