Twitter user @Daurmith wrote this series of biographies for famous male scientists.
I started to write small bios of famous (male) scientists as they’d be written had they been women.
— Daurmith (@Daurmith) January 30, 2016
Originally posted in Spanish, blogger and Twitter user @Daurmith wrote one-sentence biographies for male scientists in response to a piece about British poet Sarah Howes. According to Buzzfeed, the article turned attention away from the Howes's prestigious TS Eliot Prize and instead focused on the poet's appearance.
“I got to thinking about that and about all the other times I’ve seen articles written about notable women in which their looks/makeup secrets/wardrobe advice were discussed, sometimes instead of – not besides – her work," Daurmith told Buzzfeed.
Here's what you might read about male scientists if their appearances were valued over their research:
«No one could imagine that behind Newton’s large eyes and frail appearance hid one of the most prodigious brains in the world."
— Daurmith (@Daurmith) January 30, 2016
«He had the body of an athlete and the face of a movie star. But Oliver Sacks chose science over glamour.»
— Daurmith (@Daurmith) January 30, 2016
«Sassy and carefree Feynmann challenged social mores as he worked on his research. He broke hearts all over USA.»
— Daurmith (@Daurmith) January 30, 2016
Note the tone of surprise that a man can have a personal life and a work life:
«Pierre Curie, married and proud father of two, found time for love and family during his short scientific career.»
— Daurmith (@Daurmith) January 30, 2016
«A devout husband and father, Darwin balanced his family duties with the study of the specimes he brought from his travels.»
— Daurmith (@Daurmith) January 30, 2016
«His dour personality made everyone think he’d never marry. Even so, Schrödinger got a wife and a Nobel Prize."
— Daurmith (@Daurmith) January 30, 2016
Other Twitter users responded with their own parody biographies:
@Daurmith Unmarried vegetarian and profligate social climber Leonardo da Vinci also finds time in his busy schedule for art and inventing
— Jon H Ayre (@EnterprisingA) February 3, 2016
@Daurmith despite treating the women in his life appallingly, Einstein managed to discover the theory of relativity.
— Tauji (@almondicecream) February 2, 2016
Read next: 7 Scientists Who Never Got the Credit They Deserved
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