At the Intersection of
POLICE AND PROTECT
DR. GLADYS WEST MATHEMATICIAN
Her contributions to the modeling of the shape of the Earth and the satellite geodesy models are the underpinning for GPS.
When schools argue they cannot regulate anyone wearing masks, some of us laugh. T-shirts are turned inside out and girls are sent home for exposing bra straps or thighs. Clothing, makeup, and hair are thoroughly policed. We can’t defend society from a virus with a layer of fabric the way we try to protect against sexual urges? Comments sections quickly go off the rails to attack appearances and equate them with intelligence and health—or how much value we can assign an individual. Janeane Garofalo once talked about how, as people fawned over her in the ’90s, all she could think was she’d lost so much weight her teeth were loose. Margaret Cho had a whole routine about being hospitalized after losing 30 pounds to play basically herself on All-American Girl. Now Lena Dunham is using her platform to talk about the differences between being a size 4 and size 14 and how that shouldn’t determine value. We won’t stop valuing appearance, but it seems healthier to accept a whole range.
Annette Kellermann was arrested in 1907 for indecent exposure. The Australian professional swimmer started her own line of suits.
Jes Baker themilitantbaker.com responds to A&F limiting women’s sizes in 2013 because fat kids are “uncool.”
MARIA DA PENHA ACTIVIST
A Brazilian biopharmacist and human rights defender for whom a 2006 Brazilian law is named after her own domestic violence case languished.
DR. ROSALIND FRANKLIN CHEMIST
An English chemist and X-ray crystallographer whose work was central to the understanding of the molecular structures of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid), RNA (ribonucleic acid), viruses, coal, and graphite.
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When magazines take the idea that there isn’t one perfect woman and then create her based on polling, it really misses the point. One artist actually wrote “beautiful” on herself to challenge the concept of what is accepted.
Art Department Weekly • March 23, 2021
April 2014 - credit tumblr
In the early 1900s, women’s swimming costumes included high necks, long sleeves, skirts, and pants. As suits changed, women received tickets.
