google ladies

I just realized that there are a lot of women being featured in google doodles these days. I was sort of disappointed to learn that it did not come about as organically as I hoped for. The women's group spark brought it up with google, and then google acknowledged and changed things up. Not that its any surprise. Women probably have achieved less in public sphere than men what with lower workforce participation and a tendency to prioritize domestic duties. Nonetheless, its a pleasure to see all these things women have accomplished even during a time when women's place was in the house (the oldest seems to be Mary Anning, born 1799, and the youngest Dian Fossey, born 1932)...to look at ourselves not just as a lot who are trying to catch up, but who have already made significant achievements in a multitude of professions.
These simple and basic changes matter because it changes the way we, and more importantly kids perceive themselves and those around them. Boys wouldn't grow up thinking, well I don't know that many women who do awesome stuff, so most women are incapable of awesomeness. And girls wouldn't have to imagine the possibilities that are before them in that timid-perhaps fashion.