So I was reading a fascinating story on the BBC website on the discovery of a WHOLE NEW HUMANOID SPECIES that lived in South Africa up to three million years ago. The new species, named homo naledi, may have even been the first in the genus homo. The first of us!
Reading about the discovery of the homo naledi skeletons themselves, I came across this unexpected detail. The scientists who literally went into the caves where the bones were found all had something in common:
Small women were chosen because the tunnel was so narrow. They crawled through darkness lit only by their head torches on a precarious 20 minute-long journey to find a chamber containing hundreds of bones.
Here they are:
I mention this because so many of the doofuses I write about on this blog simply assume that male bodies are physically superior to those of women — larger, able to lift heavier objects, and so forth — and so, in their minds, men must have done all the important work in human history (and prehistory), from hunting the proverbial mammoth to building the pyramids to mowing the lawn.
But not all jobs — even the very physical ones — require the brute strength of a big burly man. Especially if the burly men in question literally can’t fit in the tunnel.
The Ad was brilliant. Essentially “Are you tiny, good at science and willing to work for no pay?”
http://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/sep/10/homo-naledi-small-spelunkers-required-how-an-advert-led-to-the-discovery-of-homo-naledi
Hooray for women scientists!
The Underground Astronauts are amazing. No doubt there will be more–the cave is still full of bones and will have years, maybe decades of further excavation.
Brilliant! Thanks for highlighting this David, and I hope this will inspire females to pursue STEM fields and understand that there is no valid reasons for it to remain male-dominated.
Also much gratitude for all their hard work. It clearly is not an easy job to do!
My younger sister worked as an archaeologist on digs. Half the team consisted of men, half of women. The whole team hauled rocks in the sun all day long, no distinction made between genders. On their cave expedition, even a few elderly women climbed up slippery ladders into the unlit cave.
Unfortunately, despite the high numbers of women on the field, almost all archaeology professors here are male. The one female professor we do have teaches a course about how museum exhibitions and scientific writings have been willfully altered to fit stereotype gender roles.
For example figurines in skirts described as female dancers, despite having male anatomy underneath the skirt. A depiction of a bearded male slave on a Roman mural changed into a beautiful young woman for the “recreated” museum display.
Hooray for the power of the small 🙂 Also – wow. *off to read the article*
David,
Thank you for this, these are some awesome women. Strength and being larger is not always the answer. We definetly need to encourage and inspire women and girls who wish to be in STEM fields and more.
Also
“I mention this because so many of the doofuses I write about on this blog simply assume that male bodies are physically superior to those of women — larger, able to lift heavier objects, and so forth.”
But later they claim misandry why men/boys being hit by women/girls is taken less seriously than the other way around. I’m not saying it’s ok absolutely no one should hit anybody but if you want to help male victims then don’t spread “men are superior” around.
Woot, woot!
Thanks, David. I can’t wait to click through and find out more.
That cave though.
http://static1.techinsider.io/image/55f094c49dd7cc1d008b9321-2400-1766/02_ngm_1015_mm8345_mystery_man_gfx.jpg
Nice!
On top of everything else, I have to point out how brave these women are (practically a requirement for spelunkers in general, of course). I would be terrified to the point of having a claustrophobia attack if I had to crawl through those narrow passages even if I knew there was Aladdin’s lamp on the other side to grant all my wishes (including getting out of the cave without going through the passage again). Such a dedication to the job is admirable.
@reallyfriendly I know you didn’t intend it this way, but using “females” instead of women a noun rather than an adjective is needed sounds dehumanizing. It’s like when you’re watching a nature documentary and the voice over is describing a lioness. It’s also used frequently by MRAs for that reason. So, “we need more female engineers” is fine because it’s an adjective there, but “more females should be engineers” is not so great.
I keep wondering how you get through the Dragon’s Back. Do you crawl through and then have to go down headfirst? Do you go backwards?
@ Katz
Judging by some video on the BBC news site, you go head first and then sort of shuffle round as you come out and slide down feet first.
Even with ropes it looks like you get a few bumps and bruises.
Holy shit, a whole new species of human! :O
Anyone want to take bets as to when the manosphere is going to claim that these women were led by men, and those men deserve all the credit? Or when they claim that all those bones must have been poor, poor, men who were tossed down there by the early Overlord Katie?
That’s just what I was going to say. One of the reasons that The Descent is my favorite movie is because I’m claustrophobic (even a crowded bus makes me anxious) and that cave collapse scene is one of the scariest things I’ve ever seen.
Sometimes it’s not about being physically strong. It’s about being mentally strong. Something that really isn’t gendered.
@kupo Good point. I see what you are saying and will switch my word usage. Thank you for your understanding!
Paradoxical Intention
“Anyone want to take bets as to when the manosphere is going to claim that these women were led by men, and those men deserve all the credit? Or when they claim that all those bones must have been poor, poor, men who were tossed down there by the early Overlord Katie?”
All 10 bucks
http://buyweedonline.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/10-bucks.jpg
This gives me hope that there are spaces on Earth where these dickheads literally can’t fit; not DON’T fit, but CAN’T fit.
There’s hope for the human race yet 🙂
BTW, hopefully they rename ‘Superman’s crawl’ to ‘Superwoman’s’ crawl…
‘Course, the manospherians will still be claiming men > women, because the skeletons were classified as Homo sp. As opposed to, say, Femina.
Also, female scientists, daring to go where no big, macho man would fit? MISANDRY!
https://imgflip.com/i/qvgzi
So kind of OT but also slightly relevant to the whole we need to encourage women in University thing. . . (and sorry for it being a buzz-kill)
This was posted around in multiple places in comment sections on various Toronto news sites and the University of Toronto even issues a statement that teachers are not required to come in to the classroom if they are worried about theirs and their students safety:
?oh=f3b42b5cac0b3c85b6a2f95f41b615c5&oe=567504F3
cupisnique
Should have put a trigger warning.