The Significance of Incorporating the Feminist Standpoint Theory
The world has a broad spectrum of differences between individuals including race, ethnicity, gender, religion, and ideas. The inclusion of individuals from different backgrounds will inform and better modern day science. However if the current science community were to understand marginalized groups that do not contribute to the dominant perspective of science made by primarily white men, it will “help inform the ways the dominant view of science reflects hegemonic social and cultural norms” (“Feminist standpoint theory and science communication, Halpern). This fundamental idea is in the feminist standpoint theory.
The feminist standpoint theory supports the idea of different perspectives, and “those who are outside of the dominant perspective have access to knowledge that those within it do not” (“Feminist standpoint theory and science communication, Halpern). It does not throw the current scientific knowledge to the ground, but instead, it provides additional valuable perspectives to our current science. Scientific communication and knowledge should not be limited, and instead, it should be heightened, broadened, and strengthened by marginalized groups.
Lauren Redniss, the author of Radioactive: A Tale of Love and Fallout, writes a biography based around Marie Curie’s life. She engages her audience by including creative illustrations that centers around Marie, Marie’s husband Pierre, her work, and her personal life. The book does not follow a traditional biography, and the readers are able to understand the emotions of Marie Curie in depth through art. It really makes the book colorful, and probably how Redniss would probably describe her book, radioactive.
Being able to include art allowed Redniss’ audience to emotionally relate to Marie Curie, which helped emphasize the impact she has made in the scientific community as a woman. Redniss describes Marie’s challenges of growing up, starting with her Polish childhood to her advancements in science. During her youthful days, she was discouraged to become a scientist due to societal expectations. However, she dismissed the norms and decided to travel, fortunately meeting her future husband Pierre Curie along the way. Marie and Pierre Curie became lab partners and lovers, allowing them to scientifically and romantically communicate with each other. Marie Curie states, “[i]t would, nevertheless, be a fine thing . . . to pass our lives near each other, hypnotized by our dreams, your patriotic dream, our humanitarian dream, and our scientific dream” (Redniss, 41). Together, they supported the feminist standpoint theory by including each other’s perspectives.
As she pursued her career in science, she was able to conduct scientific work with radium and plutonium, and although it physically exhausted her and the work was dangerous and toxic, she still was able to prioritize her scientific studies and her family. Her personal experiences of being undermined by societal norms, caring for her daughters, and caring for her husband had not stopped her from providing another perspective to science.
Even during the loss of her husband, Marie Curie was still able to achieve. She was granted as the first person to receive two Nobel prizes even though she knew that scientific community lacked female representation. Losing her husband was tragic, but she knew that if she neglected her work in science, it would have been a mistake. Redniss beautifully highlights that Marie Curie was passionate, exceptional, brave, and intelligent.
Marie Curie was definitely a remarkable woman and proved that the inclusion of women in the science realm will provide additional scientific knowledge that the dominant male perspective may not have been able to see. The art that Redniss includes in the biography allowed her readers understand the intimacy between Marie and Pierre, and how her personal experiences shaped her work. With Redniss’ biography on Marie Curie, Marie should serve as a reminder that including all perspectives from different genders and cultural backgrounds will further scientific knowledge and is an example of following the feminist standpoint theory.
- Halpern, M. (2019). Feminist standpoint theory and science communication. Journal of Science Communication, 18(4), C02. https://jcom.sissa.it/archive/18/04/JCOM_1804_2019_C01/JCOM_1804_2019_C02
- Redniss, L. (2015). Radioactive: Marie & Pierre Curie: A Tale of Love and Fallout. Harper Collins.
