Working Through Adversity
The feminist standpoint theory can be described in two parts, a) all knowledge is situated, interpreted, and thus local. This can be described by Harding, “Each oppressed group can learn to identify its distinctive opportunities to turn an oppressive feature of the group’s conditions into a source of how dominant the society is structured.” (2003a. p. 7) In other words, people who are outside the “dominant circle” still have as valuable information as the ones inside this circle. The second principle of feminist standpoint theory is, “those belonging to marginalized groups are situated in ways that allow them to see more than those who are not.” (Halpern) Again, people who may not seem to give a significant perspective on a problem may actually provide a better vision on the problem than people in the dominant group.
The book Radioactive, by Lauren Redniss, is an abstract art book mixed with true events of scientific discoveries within their lives. The book makes it feel like the reader was there when the events take place throughout the book because the illustrations blend in incredibly well with the story. The book starts by introducing Marie Curie where she was born in Warsaw, Poland (under Russian control at this time) in November 1867. Marie knew growing up she was destined for greatness, but it was much harder to do so given the fact that women typically weren’t well known scientists at this time. At a young age, Marie joined Flying University in Poland which was a thousand women secretly meeting to revolt against the Russian perspective on female education. This is a great connection to the feminist standpoint theory because she was against all odds with succeeding as a female scientist, but she kept moving forward to her goal despite what others thought about her statements.
After moving to France and meeting her husband Pierre, they both would research radioactivity together and use each other’s minds to create their conclusions. Through this hard work, Marie Curie was able to be granted with two Nobel Prizes throughout her life despite being a female during this time period and it’s safe to say she did more than most male scientists had prior to her. The more impressive part to me is she was able to gain these accolades with all the struggles in her life: raising kids, miscarriage, being treated unfairly, and the death of her own husband. The real argument that should be starting is how isn’t somebody like Marie able to contribute the same as somebody else even when she has so many responsibilities and events away from her research. This is another reason why the feminist standpoint theory can be related to the book Radioactive.
Furthermore, it’s important to encourage more people’s insight on problems as this will give everyone an equal opportunity in the science field. Another outcome of this resolution would be more diversity within the field and younger kids are able to live out their dreams one day no matter the race or gender. This outcome is stated in the book as well when Marie’s daughter grew up in a similar way to her mother and was also able to receive a Nobel Prize (Radioactive, 2015). The last reason this book can be related to the feminist standpoint theory is because many people don’t realize the importance of our decisions today and how they can shape out the future for the next generations based on our actions.
Bibliography:
Halpern, M. (2019, October 02). Feminist standpoint theory and science communication. Retrieved from https://jcom.sissa.it/archive/18/04/JCOM_1804_2019_C01/JCOM_1804_2019_C02
Harding, S. (2009). The feminist standpoint theory reader: Intellectual and political controversies. Retrieved September 20, 2020, from https://www.amazon.com/Feminist-Standpoint-Theory-Reader-Controversies/dp/0415945011
Redniss, L. (2015). Radioactive: Marie & Pierre Curie, a tale of love & fallout. London: Dey Street Books, an imprint of HarperCollins.
