Body metaphors in field geology: implications for gender- or sex- based harassment
Abstract
In modern geology, sexual metaphors are strangely common both in spoken or written form. Importantly, the sexualization of geology in field settings contributes to a culture that normalizes or encourages sexually-charged discourse and actions, potentially making field geology a discipline that is particularly prone to incidents of sex- or gender- based harassment. Introducing sexually-charged power dynamics threatens physical safety by contributing to the already high risk of sexual harassment and sexual assault in the field.
Here I focus on understanding sexualized or "bodied" language and rhetoric in field geology. Through an analysis of language in both historical and modern geologic settings I illuminate a connection between the bodying of geology in early scientific literature and the terminology and rhetoric developed around geologic processes. I illustrate how "bodied" language of geology was strongly influenced by cultural values held by foundational geologists. In particular, 19th century geologists were celebrated for traits of heroic scientific masculinity, and these scientists turned to prestigious fields known for heroism, such as the imperializing and exploring military or the brilliant and noble profession of medical surgery, for metaphors and analogies in their writing. By employing rhetoric that clothed and unclothed the geologic bodies studies, these scientists transformed the field into their subject to act upon, growing intimate with the land and extracting precious resources. In turn, the language developed from body analogies continues to set cultural norms in formal and informal geology discourses, enabling the explicit sexualization of geology, creating uncomfortable (sometimes dangerous) situations that enable gender- and sex-based harassment.- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2019
- Bibcode:
- 2019AGUFMED33F1038P
- Keywords:
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- 0850 Geoscience education research;
- EDUCATION;
- 0855 Diversity;
- EDUCATION;
- 6344 System operation and management;
- POLICY SCIENCES & PUBLIC ISSUES;
- 6630 Workforce;
- POLICY SCIENCES & PUBLIC ISSUES