Walking a Tightrope: The Feminist Life of a Drosophila Biologist

Despite widely reported success in increases of the number of women enrolling in graduate school, the androcentric focus of science remains present in biology at every level: from what questions are asked, to what answers may be considered, to who may ask/answer the questions. This is an increasing problem for me both personally, as a woman who is a scientist and a feminist; and politically, because of the ever-increasing presence of science (particularly my field, evolutionary genetics) in people's lives. The continuity between the ways that assumptions of the male as norm occlude my field from the interpretation of data to the training of women scientists is discussed. The growing scholarship in feminist science studies offers the hope of a better science and a better climate for feminist scientists, but communication between women's studies and life sciences professionals is as yet at an early stage.