Week 20: Ada Lovelace is Closed!

[esteefee]

Week #20: Ada Lovelace is closed. Thank you for contributing in honor of women in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics)!

Those Women by stella_pegasi (Gen) : Rodney learns that he doesn't know everything.
The Best Part of the Day by sgamadison (John/Rodney) : Sometimes it’s the little things you look forward to the most.
Playing the Violin by esteefee (Gen) : It was his Aunt Maggie who taught Rodney to love science.

Our Ada Lovelace Quote Collection on AO3. (Sorry it took me so long to create the subcollection!)

Way to go, guys.

Comments

[hoktauri]

I want to say that, to me, this prompt was quite difficult to come up with something. I realized I wanted to write something from the perspective of a woman in science, and I just couldn't do it this time around. I don't have many female role models IRL to look up to in the first place, and certainly none in science (except my current physics teacher, but I've only just met her).

This prompt has made me realize also the desperate need for female role models not only in my life, but in the lives of young women and girls today. It's nice and well and good to be surrounded my successful men, and it's better than having no mentors at all, but successful men are really a dime a dozen, especially in STEM.

I really wanted to write a story about Jeannie, and I'll probably still write and post it in amnesty. But as part of the lessons I've been learning this year, I am sometimes quite frightened to write in a female voice. It seems odd to me that the things most people can't write, I can write very easily, but something so simple as writing in a female voice is a completely foreign idea to me. Even the heroine of my novel is quite masculine in her voice. And while I don't think that's a bad thing, as it is certainly who that character is, I know I am doing myself a disservice in being unable to see things from a feminine perspective--and a non-stereotypical one at that.

Cause of course it would be all too easy to fall into the fainting/lusting/hysterical/whatever stereotypes, and part of me knows that no matter how honest and real and rational I make a female character, by current societal cultural standards, she's going to be brushed off.

*sigh* All this to say, thank you for this prompt. Even though I didn't write anything this time around, I am now actively looking for female role models in my life and in science.

[esteefee]

I, too, had a dearth of STEM female role models in my life, but I had a great deal of encouragement in math/sciences from my pops, so that kind of made up for it.

I would dearly love to read a Jeannie story from you. :))))

It's interesting: I don't write stories from the female POV very often either, although I have really enjoyed it when I have (Teyla, Jennifer).

[hoktauri]

Yes, when I was faced with the challenge of writing from Teyla's perspective in my MM fic, I ended up having a greater respect for her character, so that now when I watch the show, I feel less detached from her, more like I know where she's coming from.

It's just weird to me that that doesn't just come naturally, ya know? And shouldn't it? My mom was emotionally unavailable, my dad a workaholic, blah blah blah, but I feel like there should be a part of me that *enjoys* being a woman and like I really don't know how to access that.

If that makes any sense! :-\

[esteefee]

well, it's not our fault, really. so many of the books and movies we grew up with are from the male POV. it's the default perspective. we are taught to live vicariously.