Making Gender Visible in the Pursuit of Nature's Secrets
Keller, Evelyn
Primary Category:
Literature /
Nonfiction
Genre: Criticism
-
Annotated by:
- Moore, Pamela
- Date of entry: Aug-05-1994
Summary
Keller studies the use of gendered metaphors in science and medicine. She argues that, contrary to popular belief, modern medicine does not usually see women as ineffable mysteries. Rather, female bodies are customarily understood as containing dangerous secrets that (masculine) science capably routs, thus suppressing the fount of female power. Modern science exposes feminine mystery; it does not bury it deeper. This "predominant mythology," argues Keller, "shapes the very meaning of science." Science is the lifting of Nature's veil (as pictured on the Nobel Prize), the invasion of female space.
Primary Source
Feminist Studies/Critical Studies
Publisher
Indiana Univ. Press
Place Published
Bloomington
Edition
1986
Editor
Teresa de Lauretis
Commentary