When Nobel winning scientist Sir Tim Hunt showed up at a conference in Seoul and made the now infamous remarks that “when you have women in the lab, three things happen: you fall in love with them, they fall in love with you and when you criticize them, they cry,” he didn’t imagine his life would be turned upside down as a result. 16 women scientists took to Twitter using the hashtag #distractinglysexy to ridicule his remarks. Their tweets are hilarous, but the resulting firestorm forced his resignation from University College London. Author and media strategist Shawna Vercher said “This was deserved. This man is a brand. He is clearly in charge and his attitudes send a clear message” to the scientific community.
Author and commentator Anita Finlay argues that while certain men seem predisposed to blame the “emotional nature of women” as reason to reject them from certain professions, it was reported that he was the one left crying on his couch two days after being inundated with criticism he couldn’t handle. Finlay says, “It seems he is projecting his own vulnerability onto women.”
But what happened next was beyond the pale according to Anita – Shawna thinks it was on point. Find out what the fuss is about and why Mr. Hunt’s comments matter in our latest edition of Dare We Say.
