Lost Women Engineers in Montreal
Dear friends of women in science,
A recent blog post alerted me to a disaster I had not known about. Back in December, 1989, a gunman in Montreal invaded Ecole Normale Polytechnique in Montreal. He roamed corridors, collected 14 women, and shot them down. Just before beginning to shoot, he screamed, "I hate feminists."
The blog post was by MarieClaire Shanahan, who recently did a study about concepts about who can do science. She was 13 when the killing occurred, and she found it chilling. But for 21 years, during which time she became an engineer, she did not attend any Remembrance Day observations for this event, although they have been held all over Canada.
In analyzing why not, she said she realized this landmark was when, "Suddenly I saw that who you were as a physical body and as a person could determine whether others allowed your participation, that there could be serious consequences for not being the right type of person in someone's eyes." She was moved to grieve for Science, a field she had previously felt was beyond these societal constraints.
Since she now studies exclusion from sciences of people who have the mentality for it but are barred by societal barriers, she feels that in a sense, her whole life is a vigil for these women. She does not need to attend a Day of Remembrance.
cheers,
Laura
What a sad story. So hard when probably every one of those women had been encouraged and mentored along the way to go into engineering. But we can't second guess people like this murderer. They can decide anything. We need to focus on the future instead.
SSW
Giving this day to learning more about trying to help women in science has always meant a lot to me. I appreciate her efforts to help us understand what works for women interested in science, though.
