Gender and knowledge in science

Marginalization of Women in Feminist Discourses by Luce Irigaray and Londa Schiebinger

Assertion of the rights and freedom of women in the society has been one major issue discussed and confronted by many years by discourses on women's studies. The domains of politics have been often discussed, as well as other aspects that concern the social lives of women. However, little is known about the status of women in the domain of academic freedom and power. Clearly, one of the most important institutions in society -- that is, the educational system, had taken for granted the essential role that women play in their society. Luce Irigaray and Londa Schiebinger, as illustrated in their discourses on the marginalization of women in the academic environment/setting, subsist to this stance.

Luce Irigaray, in her article entitled, Is the Subject of Science Sexed?, confronts the issue of the evident "masculinity" of academic institutions, which is characterized as dominated by males. According to Irigaray's analysis, issues on and pertaining to academics, especially, the sciences, seemed to be, throughout history, mutually exclusive to males only, "a man's territory." Arguing these points, she asserts how the male-female dichotomy had always prevailed in the realm of academics, particularly those in the sciences: "That difference - masculine/feminine - has always operated 'within' systems that are representative, self-representative, of the (masculine) subject... In other words, the feminine has never been defined except as the inverse, indeed the underside, of the masculine..." This passage from Irigaray's discourse reflects the psyche of the society towards women in general. Despite progress in women's political freedom and rights in the society, the women sector is still struggling with 'patriarchal politics' in the academic environment.

Londa Schiebinger echoes Irigaray's sentiments when discussing the issue of women's marginalization in the education institution of the society. In her book, The Mind Has No Sex?, Schiebinger confronts, through historical analysis, how women had been repressed for as early as 17th century the right to have an education. Moreover, she also centers on the issue of power plays in scholarly communities that women are gradually penetrating as they make use of their privilege to obtain formal education and make significant contributions to the society. In her historical analysis, Schiebinger illustrates how the emergence of Scientific Revolution became an 'isolated' event that happened for males only, and not intended for women: "While the prestige of science waxed... In time women of the aristocracy lost their place in scientific settings... women were displaced from centers of learning with the establishment of universities..."