Science--If You Don't Understand It, You Must Be a Dumb Female

I am so, so sick of this phrase:

Let's make clear exactly what this means. "Bitch" is a misogynist word used to denigrate women by suggesting that they are inferior. It is used to denigrate men by suggesting that they are women (and hence inferior). And it is used in the above context to suggest that those who do not understand science (or choose to put their faith in religion or woo in the place of science) are inferior--and hence, like women.

What boggles the mind is that the people who use this slogan (I'm sure it didn't escape your notice that the above t-shirt wearer is female) are often themselves women or men who know that women can be as brilliant in the sciences as men.

It's equivalent to the recent slew of politicians telling each other to "man up." It's just become so ingrained in our culture that politics and science are the realms of men. Sure, we'll let women into them now, but they'd better "get their man pants on," stop being "bitches," and renounce their stupid femininity to fit in with the men folk.

We write articles complaining that science is a boy's club, and how can we possibly get more wymens interested? Why don't we start by losing this:

Ms. magazine included this as one of their top ten ways to be a feminist:

Stop referring to women as bitches. I am really tired of hearing the b- word used so often, and casually, as if it doesn’t have any meaning at all. Right now, many young, self-described political liberals, who do not use the f- word to refer to queer men because that word is offensive, still use the b- word regularly as a way to refer to the ladies. Why is the word bitch now classified as a slang term, and not as a serious insult? . . .

So, let’s talk about what the word bitch actually means: 1. “a woman,” 2. “a woman who gets angry or disagrees with you,” and 3. “a man who is weak, (like we expect a woman to be.)” In case you hadn’t noticed, the word’s dual, and yes, contradictory meaning functions to criticize men and women alike. Anyone who dares to cross over into enemy territory gets branded with an insulting label, discouraging her or him from ever visiting that territory again. Perhaps this is why people love to use this word so much. Like a particularly good police officer, Officer B does twice the work of any other officer on the streets. Officer B effectively enforces the boundaries between the neighborhoods of men and women. And, if you ever talk back to Officer B, if you ever challenge the authority of that word, that’s the easiest way to get labeled a bitch yourself!

To me, the worst part of people’s constant use of the b- word is that it actually makes women fear they’re going to be labeled the b- word for doing anything outside the norm. This includes, but is not limited to: Women standing up for themselves, women fighting back at the social construction of gender, women getting angry about anything in general, and women asserting themselves.

Let's add "women learning more about science" to this list. This is exactly why I have stopped using the word altogether. Let's get this straight: some people don't understand science. This has exactly zip to do with their sex (in the biological sense, although their gender in the cultural sense may have impeded the accessibility of scientific learning). Some people ignore science; this has exactly zip to do with their sex. Let's stop making it about that, okay?

I would love to have a t-shirt advocating science, but I would never wear that slogan. So let's come up with a new one, one that doesn't rely on "putting women [and women-y men] in their place." I would love to see smart people, people who have a good sense of comic wit, working on this. I'm sure Randall Munroe of xkcd could do a lot better than jumping on the "bitch" bandwagon:

I'm open to suggestions. When I find one I can wear proudly, I'll take it to cafe press and slap it on a t-shirt.