Before jumping into this article, let's do a small task. Let's open your messenger, randomly pick 3 of your friends, then ask them to tell you 3 inventors that come to mind first, immediately when reading the message. You will be surprised at the fact that male inventors will probably dominate the answers.
This urged me to think about the position of women in creating inventions that changed the world. It is usually the norm that the word “invention" is associated with mostly men, but have you ever expected that many of things that are considered “life basic standard" nowadays are actually invented by women?
Imagine waking up to a world where women's inventions mysteriously vanish. You stumble into your kitchen, craving a breakfast, only to find that your options are limited to instant noodles. Why? Because Florence Parpart's electric refrigerator is nowhere to be found, you have nothing to preserve fresh foods for meals.
So now, a bowl of hot instant noodles will quench your hunger this morning. But wait, how to boil that water? You open the pantry to find the tool you have always used when you need boiling water for whatever reason: making instant noodles, making tea, coffee, or anything else. But today the electric kettle is out of reach because Ida Forbes hadn't shown up with her genius invention. Looks like you have to wait on the stovetop to watch water boiling in the pot, which takes forever.
Now that you finished your noodle bowl, it is time to tackle your assignment. However, your laptop doesn't function at all. It might be broken, so you decided to go to an Internet cafe to do your assignment on computers there and will take your laptop to a repair shop later. A great idea it seems! Except the fact that computers at the cafe cannot start either, and turns out you just paid to rent a typewriter, which is useless because you cannot even access your Canvas page to see your assignment requirements. Then, you suddenly remember that because today is a no-women-invention day, Ada Lovelace has not blessed the computer with the first computer programme in the world. And even if somebody just came up with a computer programme right now, they cannot function normally either, as there is no software – Grace Murray Hopper hasn't introduced them to the public!
Feeling defeated, you reach for your phone and AirPods, ready to drown your sorrows in music. But guess what? Bluetooth doesn't exist, because Hedy Lamarr hadn't invented the “frequency hopping technology" that makes it work. What's worse is that you cannot even surf the internet or binge YouTube videos, as without that tech, WiFi wouldn't exist either. No internet, no music, just you and your existential dread.
It's a comedy of errors, really. Despite women's inventions being overshadowed by their male colleagues, their contribution to modern life is undeniable. So this March, let's give these unsung heroes the recognition they deserve – because living a day without their creations, as you have just read about, is a nightmare!
Sincerely,
VinUnians
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