October 12, 2013

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This is not a post about discovering science

Re blog inquiry: @sciam is a publication for discovering science. The post was not appropriate for this area & was therefore removed. — Mariette DiChristina (@mdichristina) October 12, 2013 This is not a post about discovering science.

By Kate Clancy

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This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American

This is not a post about discovering science. This is not a post about discovering science. This is not a post about discovering science. This is not a post about discovering science. This is not a post about discovering science. This is not a post about discovering science. This is not a post about discovering science. This is not a post about discovering science. This is not a post about discovering science. This is not a post about discovering science. This is not a post about discovering science.

If that is how Scientific American Blogs runs, of course, none of this random assortment of my recent posts should have been allowed either:

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I almost never write about discovering science, and in fact write frequently about oppression and privilege. But when a black woman writes about an oppressive experience, it is grounds for removal. Folks, this is Ally Work 101: it doesn't matter your intent, what matters is the impact. Silencing a black woman who just got called an "urban whore" is sexist, racist, silencing behavior. It is wrong, and it is shameful.

(See Dr. Isis for the back story on this.)

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I am Dr. Kate Clancy, Assistant Professor of Anthropology at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. On top of being an academic, I am a mother, a wife, an athlete, a labor activist, a sister, and a daughter. My beautiful blog banner was made by Jacqueline Dillard. Context and variation together help us understand humans (and any other species) as complicated. But they also help to show us that biology is not immutable, that it does not define us from the moment of our birth. Rather, our environment pushes and pulls our genes into different reaction norms that help us predict behavior and physiology. But, as humans make our environments, we have the ability to change the very things that change us. We often have more control over our biology than we may think.

More by Kate Clancy

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