Her Hidden Genius

Although Rosalind’s male colleagues refer to one another with respect, using the honorific “doctor” or a preferred name, Rosalind is frequently addressed as “miss” rather than “doctor” and called “Rosy,” a nickname that her fellow scientists know she dislikes. “Miss,” “Rosy,” and other diminutive forms of greeting or address come to symbolize the sexism of that characterizes the scientific community and help the author to explore The Isolation of Women in the Sciences. Rosalind is highly intelligent and an expert in her own right as she begins her career. She is treated with disrespect by her male counterparts while she is researching coal and finds the atmosphere at the labo so appealing because it lacks the sexism and prejudice of her workplaces in London. When she returns to London, however, she again encounters sexism and is once again subject to mistreatment. The male scientists at King’s both disrespect and exclude her, and Rosalind becomes defensive as a result. Although she does her best to ignore her colleagues’ behavior, she is willing to defend herself. She develops a reputation for being difficult in part because of this willingness, but also because her colleagues close ranks and isolate her.

Although “undoctoring” a female scientist by calling her “miss” or using an inappropriate nickname might be seen as microaggressions, they are part of larger and more consequential pattern of discrimination. Wilkins, Crick, and Watson routinely call Rosalind “miss” or “Rosy,” but they also take a proprietary view of her work. They feel entitled to her data because they are men in a male-dominated field and ultimately take responsibility for her work. Their casual moments of disrespect and their willingness to engage in subterfuge and intellectual property theft stem from the same prejudicial view that men are more intelligent and capable than women and, as such, deserve the credit for work that was completed in large part by a woman.