Eyes on the Stars: Images of Women Scientists in Popular Magazines

Abstract

Studies of U.S. schoolchildren, from the 1950s through the 1980s, show that both boys and girls see the typical scientist as male.l Some of these attitudes simply reflect statistical reality-far fewer women than men work as scientists2-but they also indicate continuing, deep-seated cultural bias against science as an activity appropriate women. It is not just that science is regarded as a masculine occupation. Historical analysis of American popular culture shows that, throughout this century, the mass media have also purveyed a strongly negative image of women scientists, depicting them as both atypical scientists and atypical women. Popularized science-that is, descriptions and discussions of science directed at audiences outside the scientific research community3-contributes to cultural beliefs about women scientists through journalistic practices and through the communication of images. First, the type of person who interprets science (e.g., who writes a magazine article or is interviewed on a radio show) influences an audience's ideas about who speaks for science, that is, about what type of person best understands science or best represents the research field discussed. If (as was true in U.S. magazines from 1910 through 1955) fewer women than men acted as the communicators of science, then readers were exposed to subtle messages about women's abilities to comprehend science. Second, popular biographies and other descriptions (or illustrations) of women scientists contribute to beliefs about what typical women scientists are like, in personality and character. If there were few such descriptions (as was true in the magazines), then the message given was that, aside from a few superstars, women played an insignificant role in the scientific research process. Although the quantitative data that I will cite in this article come from a content analysis of masscirculation magazines published between 1910 and 1955, comprehensive analysis of other media would, I believe, reveal similar negative images.4