‘AGU and the body politic’

Abstract

Regarding President Cox's article (September 1978 EOS, page 835):AGU membership and services have always been ‘accessible’ to women. Some of us have been members and recipients of benefits therefrom for more years than most present male members. Nonetheless, except for the challenging support of a few civilized members who have also been leaders in AGU, in our daily work and association with male colleagues we have been made to feel unwelcome, unwanted, intrusive, and downright inferior. This attitude has been doubly reinforced in AGU publications and AGU efforts to acquire and retain for members taxpayer (female and male) money for the support of male geophysicists. All protestations to the contrary, such efforts have of necessity been political. We love our work, and thanks to millions of less fortunate humans who pay the bill, we are allowed to pursue it in relative comfort.