Tim Hunt
By Maya Dusenbery • @mayadusenbery • 8 years ago

Quote of the Day: Why “girl” scientists cause trouble in the lab

Tim Hunt, English biochemist and Nobel Prize winner, recently explained to a convention of scientists and journalists why he supports single-sex labs. (Yes, you read that right.) 

“Let me tell you about my trouble with girls. Three things happen when they are in the lab. You fall in love with them, they fall in love with you and when you criticise them, they cry.”

Not that he would dream of doing anything to “stand in the way of women,” of course. Hunt later apologized, saying his comment was intended to be “light-hearted.” And also “honest.”

On the bright side, as one postdoctoral researcher tweeted, “For every Tim Hunt remark, there’s an extra woman in science that takes an interest in feminism. Ever wonder why there are so many of us?”

Header image credit: The Guardian

St. Paul, MN

Maya Dusenbery is executive director in charge of editorial at Feministing. She is the author of the forthcoming book Doing Harm: The Truth About How Bad Medicine and Lazy Science Leave Women Dismissed, Misdiagnosed, and Sick (HarperOne, March 2018). She has been a fellow at Mother Jones magazine and a columnist at Pacific Standard magazine. Her work has appeared in publications like Cosmopolitan.com, TheAtlantic.com, Bitch Magazine, as well as the anthology The Feminist Utopia Project. Before become a full-time journalist, she worked at the National Institute for Reproductive Health. A Minnesota native, she received her B.A. from Carleton College in 2008. After living in Brooklyn, Oakland, and Atlanta, she is currently based in the Twin Cities.

Maya Dusenbery is an executive director of Feministing and author of the forthcoming book Doing Harm on sexism in medicine.

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