Oceanography and Women early Challenges

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Today, after about half a century, oceanography in its various aspects is an active field of research that challenges hundreds of dedicated men and women.
We just wrote "men and women"-we   (Raitt, 1956)  The taboo on sailing the "ocean blue" for women scientists in the post-World War II years was probably also an aspect of the overt as well as subtle discrimination against women that prevailed then in the academic world (Rossiter, 1998) and that has not completely subsided even today (Crane, 2003;Rohn, 2010). In 1949, Carl Eckart, the director of Scripps at that time, formalized a rule forbidding women scientists at sea (Day, 1999 However, "the best thing, " said Revelle, "was to discourage them as much as possible" (Day, 1999;Elizabeth Shor, Scripps Institution of Oceanography historian, pers. comm., 2010).
These attitudes prevailed not only at Scripps but also at the other oceanographic institutions, although there was a singular exception for Betty Bunce, a geophysicist who sailed on WHOI vessels as early as 1959 (Cullen, 2005). At Lamont under Director Maurice Ewing, women did not go to sea, although Captain Kohler, the master of Lamont's R/V Vema, had his wife sail with him occasionally. Again, the idea was that women could go to sea as long as a husband was there to "look after" them. In fact, the first Lamont woman to go at sea was geophysicist Ellen Herron in 1965 (Bell et al., 2005); however, she did not sail on a Lamont ship but rather on the National Science Foundation's R/V Eltanin. About 10 years later, she was chief scientist on Lamont's R/V Conrad.
Lamont electron microscopist Dee Breger went to sea in 1968-however, again, not on R/V Vema but on the Eltanin.
An accomplished WHOI oceanographer from the 1940s to 1970s was marine biologist Mary Sears (Cullen, 2005 She published a Woods Hole Diary (Eike, 1956) that showed she was enthusiastic about her research at WHOI. However, she objected to the taboos that prevented WHOI women oceanographers from going to sea. In 1955, she circulated at The administration of this modern Institution need not be proud of the fact that policy to date regarding the subject of women going to sea has been governed by antiquated puritanical misconceptions as to their competence, a lack of foresight concerning utilization of one of the most apparent resources in the study of the oceans, and the ill tempered dictates of the crews.
The Woods hole Oceanographic Institution was founded 25 years ago for the purpose of studying the oceans-of trying to unfathom the mysteries of this modern frontier. today we are further mystified than when we started, if only for the simple reason that we now have a better inkling of the components of the vast interwoven fabric we are trying to unravel. In these years that the Institution has been lowering Nansen bottles, nets, cameras, and sonic devices into the seas, it has suffered many limitations, such as in funds and instrumental advances. I suggest that it has imposed upon itself yet another limitation, that of personnel; for during this same time economic and social conditions have been such that women have had the opportunity to contribute to almost all fields of scientific research. The one field, at least on Cape Cod, to which they have been denied full admission is Oceanography.
Many reasons have been given to account for this situation. some scientists have said that it isn't necessary to go to sea in order to be an oceanographer. But I would prefer to collect my own data and to have the opportunity to make all the important personal observations that go with it. Furthermore, how can one even remain interested in the deep ocean if all he or she sees of it are pictures in Life or hears of it are reports of others?
It has been claimed as another excuse that there are not adequate facilities for women aboard the research vessels of this Institution. sure this is true, and it will be true so long as the administration either wishes it that way or doesn't wish it otherwise. I have observed that man is capable of making things as involved or as uncomplicated as he desires. to some minds it might be a lot of trouble to install facilities for women aboard a ship. It's also a lot of trouble to study the seas in the first place, yet that isn't considered any proper impediment. If the effort can be made to construct and outfit a research vessel, why can't it be made to extend its facilities to women?
The following are the comments, in part, of some of the staff members concerning this issue.
"The advantages to be gained in the long run by the Institution in enabling women to go to sea greatly outweigh the disadvantages, which as usually expressed arise almost entirely from prejudice. In my mind practically no actual change is involved; the major change required is in the minds of people. " -a.h. Woodcock, Meteorologist BOX 1 | WOMeN aNd OCeaNOgR aPhy By Roberta eike, Woods hole Oceanographic Institution summer Fellow, 1955 and "Part of the issue is an emotional one. For many men going to sea represents a temporary reversion to boyhood, and they don't want their glorious chance to get away from it all endangered. I should think W.H.O.I. might be realistic about it and take a couple of week-long trips to see how it works. If the institution could make a ship go out of here that was fit for women to be aboard it would probably be a better research vessel for all concerned, even if no women ever went out on it!" -h. stommel, Mathematician "There are many thoughts against the employment of women on vessels, ranging from superstition, which may be overcome by gradual adjustment to practical reasons. It would be in the interests of science to let women go to sea, but with the present ships I am against it. On one-day trips or even overnight the lack of privacy wouldn't present too serious a problem, but to throw women in with men on two to three-week cruises would be unwise. If in the future we get larger or more properly built vessels so that living quarters can be separated I think it would be worth a try to see how they work out. " -J. Pike, Port Captain "I feel we're in the Dark Ages about it around here. If they are competent to do the work and have a reason to go there's no reason in the sun why women can't go to sea. The fact that they can't go is one reason there aren't more women oceanographers around here. " -F.C. Fuglister, Oceanographer "In other nations and in other laboratories in this country women go to sea, although not very extensively. If we had a properly built vessel I would have no objection. " -J.B. hersey, Oceanographer "I don't believe in any hard and fast rule against women going to sea. When the time comes that there is a woman oceanographer who wants and needs to go to sea then the taboo will be broken. I only hope that time doesn't come until we have a larger and more commodious ship than the atlantis or the Caryn. " -l.V. Worthington, Oceanographer The final question to my mind is, "does the administration of W.h.O.I. believe that the extra effort (both real and imagined) involved in making it possible for women to investigate the ocean would be outweighed by the value of their contributions?" I think that it would, and conclude that any Institution cannot be serious in its aims if it refuses to submit the solution of its problems to the ingenuity and understanding of women as well as men.     (Beloussov, 1970)   in the West, Christmas was a serious religious holy day, solemnly celebrated even at sea… It was actually a very good cruise.
We obtained valuable geophysical data, and we dredged up lots of basalts from the East Pacific Rise. Notwithstanding the presence of a woman on board, we encountered no major storms…we hit no iceberg…we were not assaulted by pirates…the ship did not sink… At Scripps, they realized that women oceanographers were not a threat. The ice was broken. Although issues with women going to sea did not subside completely (Atwater, 2001;Crane, 2003)