By the Editors of Muslim-Science.com

Human brains are hardwired to see patterns in things. This makes life easy for man as it allows him (or her) to conserve on processing power. Often these patterns manifest themselves in the form of stereotypes. Scientists are referred to as ‘nerds’, academics as ‘absent-minded’, and policy-makers as ‘wonks’. Our society and culture is full of stereotypes. A number of these stereotypes affect women in particular. Women are often portrayed or reflected as doing certain kinds of things and not others. For instance, they’re hardly portrayed as scientists. It is common to show them as dental hygienist but never as dentists. Many of these stereotypes are formed and reinforced at our homes. But our media plays a very critical role in forming and substantiating these stereotypes.

This is, however, beginning to change. With the ever increasing contemporary trend of female scientists beginning to dominate the movie industry, it doesn’t seem long before the ‘reel’ world of Hollywood begins to seep into the ‘real’ World.

The ‘reel’ v/s ‘real’ world of science

Very recently, Hollywood has begun to embark on a journey of promoting women characters who are pursuing STEM careers. Recently, bombshell Natalie Portman appeared as an astrophysicist in the movie, Thor: The Dark World. “It’s really cool that Marvel — the comic company behind the Thor series — is working on what they call STEM: science, technology, engineering and math. Women are underrepresented in those fields so they are trying to encourage girls to study them more, because obviously there’s no reason why they shouldn’t be,” Portman told CNN [1].

Previously, several famous female characters have appeared in flicks embodying science oriented roles including [2]:

• Dr. Sarah Harding, a behavioral paleontologist in The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)

• Dr. Elizabeth Shaw, a scientist in Prometheus (2012)

• Gwen Stacey, science-loving high powered executive in The Amazing Spiderman (2012)

• Dr. Stephanie Snyder, a doctor in The Bourne Legacy (2012)

• Dr. Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson), forensic pathologist in The X-Files (TV & movie)

• Dr. Pamela Isley (Uma Thurman), biochemist who is transformed by plant toxins into “Poison Ivy”, arch-nemesis of Batman in Batman and Robin (1997)

• Dr. Emma Russell (Elizabeth Shue), physicist who developed a formula for cold fusion in The Saint (1997)

Hollywood, however, is a completely make believe world, where the impossible is made to become the possible. Therefore, it may be relatively easier to believe that supersonic female scientists exist in the glamour world of films, with all their oomph. But does this make belief world has any correspondence with the real world too – particularly in the Islamic World?

If this special ‘Women in Science’ issue of Muslim-Science.Com has to have any credence, we believe so (see our Cover Story of January 2013 Issue “The Top Twenty Most Influential Women in Science in the Islamic World”) .

A very recent example of this were the L’Oreal-UNESCO Pan Arab Awards that were handed out to the top 8 female Arab scientists for recognition for their work in the field of science. Female scientists with a range of expertise ranging from agriculture to mobile technology were honoured at an awards ceremony in Cairo. These brought forth several exceptional Arab women, who were multitasking science with home. While Hollywood women scientists jump across buildings and demonstrate super human intellectual capabilities, the science parallels in the real world distinguish themselves through their innate cognitive skills and sharp sense of science.

Thanks to Hollywood movies, such as the ones mentioned above, the image of a female scientist has undergone a transformation from a dull and haggard hunch-backed female, to a cool and hip, all in one entity, worthy of being called a ‘superwoman’.

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