Scientist Sir Tim Hunt won the Nobel Prize, but offended career women everywhere by stating that “they cry” and “fall in love” with the men they work with.
Sir Hunt is not only a Nobel winner, but he was also knighted in 2006. He believes in segregated labs because of the women falling in love with him repeatedly. His outburst seem off if you read back through his history, as reported by The Guardian. He has collaborated with women on more than one of his many scientific accomplishments.
He apologized recently, saying his only intentions were to be honest. He is now resigning.
Sir Hunt said:
“It is true that people – I have fallen in love with people in the lab and people in the lab have fallen in love with me and it’s very disruptive to the science because it’s terribly important that in a lab people are on a level playing field. I found that these emotional entanglements made life very difficult. I’m really, really sorry I caused any offence, that’s awful. I certainly didn’t mean that. I just meant to be honest, actually.”
The positive side of this incident is that his comments are raising awareness about this field being very male-dominated. There are many female scientists, and it’s time they took some of the larger roles and graduate from “girls,” as Hunt referred to them, to women. They are just as brilliant and deserve the same reverence.
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