A few weeks ago I joined my pals Louisa and Erin in The Windy City for a day of adventures. Our first stop, after hitting up Chicago Raw at The French Market for a raw muffin that is to die for, we headed off to the Field Museum!
Louisa (left) is a feminist playwright and Erin (right) leads afterschool Girl Scout programs. Are we not a bundle of feminist-fantastic!
One of my favorite exhibits was The Romance of Ants which explores how one girl got into the male-dominated field of studying ants.
The exhibit, based on the life of Field Museum scientist Dr. Corrie Moreau, contains about 20 graphic novel panels drawn by aspiring entomologist and graphic artist Alexandra Westrich. Although the focus of the exhibit is on ant education, the exhibit empowers young women to study perceived masculine subjects of science and math.
Here are a few of the panels in the exhibit which demonstrate the exhibit’s feminist slant:
Despite ridicule from other girls, Moreau made her way into the study of biology.
After years of pursuing this “manly” subject, Moreau has still managed to maintain her femininity – ah! shocker! – and proceeds to get married before finally working at the Field Museum.
Cultural Granola 