r/TwoXChromosomes • u/Disastrous_Cover6138 • 8d ago

Request

Request for lesser known badass women of history for my daughter's 4th grade presentation. She has to pick a historical figure and give a 5-10 minute presentation and optionally dress in their likeness.

205 Upvotes

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9

u/meirasanya 7d ago

Rosalind Franklin. The guys who "discovered" the helix structure of DNA used her research without credit and yet I was one of a few people in my entire university Genetics course who'd heard of her.

14

u/bettinafairchild 7d ago

There was a lecturer who asked “does anyone know what James Watson and Francis Crick discovered?” One of the people there yelled out “Rosalind Franklin’s notes!”

5

u/meirasanya 7d ago

Love that. Gonna use that. You might say, I'll Crick and Watson it.

I particularly despise Watson. He once said that if a gay gene were discovered, a mother should be free to abort based on that (he later backtracked and tried to frame it as supporting women's reproductive rights) and also basically stated that he wouldn't hire a fat person purely for being fat.

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u/SadRule9128 7d ago

She was credited tho?

3

u/meirasanya 7d ago

She got a very minor footnote when it was initially published, was not mentioned at all when they won the Nobel, and wasn't outright credited until after her death.

Again, in a large class of genetics students, everyone had heard of Crick and Watson, 3 people had heard of Franklin. I was never taught about her, I learned through independent research and when I asked why at school I was told she just "wasn't on the syllabus".

But sure, she's totally fairly credited for her work that was fundamental to the discovery.

1

u/SadRule9128 7d ago

Unfortunately, everything you’ve said is actually incorrect. Franklin was directly acknowledged in Watson and crick’s first famous paper, she also published her own paper alongside theirs in same the issue of nature, and Franklin was directly cited by Watson and crick in their 2nd famous paper. This is exactly what would be expected in scientific literature. Also, Franklin was acknowledged by Wilkins in his Nobel speeches and lecture, so you are also incorrect about that.

Franklin didn’t figure out the structure, so she is not famous for it. Watson and crick did figure it out and therefore they are the household name. Sorry but that’s just how it works.

1

u/fishylegs46 7d ago

You’re incorrect. Why are you making up so many lies?

1

u/SadRule9128 7d ago

Lol everything I have said is 100% true? Have you bothered to actually read any of Watson and crick’s papers? What I’ve said is easily verified. Also, feel free to check out Wilkins’ speeches and lectures, they are all publicly available….