Meet The Student Using Science To Fight Sexism
‘No I can’t get the dustpan and brush!’ A student is fighting back against sexism while raising awareness of women in science [Photo: Rex Features]
For every sexist email she gets, Emily Temple-Wood writes a Wikipedia entry about a female scientist.
Sure, it’s not your average way of handling sexism and it certainly wasn’t the 21-year-old student’s original intention, but the unusual practice seems to be working.
Despite it being 2016, as a molecular biology student, and also a woman, Emily has been bombarded with online harassment purely because of her gender. But instead of getting upset, or firing back at the online trolls, the aspiring biologist has decided to flip the negativity and turn it into an opportunity for empowerment.
The idea for the fightback project came back in 2012 after a late-night booze-induced rage at the realisation that so few women belonging to the prestigious Royal Society, a sort of who’s who in science, had Wikipedia articles written about them. Something, Emily hoped to change by launching the WikiProject Women Scientists.
‘Are you sure you used the right formula?’ [Photo: Rex Features]
“I got pissed and wrote an article that night,” Emily explained in a Wikipedia blog profile. “I literally sat in the hallway in the dorm until 2am writing the first women in science (Wikipedia) article.”
Combining raising awareness about great female scientists with a positive way of dealing with sexism, seemed like a perfect opportunity, so now Emily pens an entry every time she receives a sexist email.
The project has been a huge success [Photo posed by model: Rex Features]
And it’s been a huge success. According to a Wikimedia blog post, the initiative has so far helped more than 370 female scientists appear on Wikipedia’s front page ‘Did you know?’ section and there is now a team of women writing articles shouting about women who are changing the world through their work.
Unfortunately, but hardly surprisingly, the harassment continues. But at least Emily has discovered an empowering way of dealing with it.
See more of Emily’s project here
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