Diane Brown-Steiner

Mary Anning was a scientist in a time when there was no such thing as a female scientist, so said the "brilliant" men of that era. I love a good love story, but it galls me to see her life reduced to this imagined aspect. As if, as would be thought at the time, - what? A female scientist? What else could she be but a lesbian. Then to take the other two women, Charlotte Murchison and Elizabeth Philpot, also known for their scientific minds, and imagine they were also lesbians, just adds to the overly patriarchal view of who these women could be. All scientists, all lesbians. It IS a lovely and poignant love story. But the oppression of these women in their time makes it frustrating that who they are, is again boxed in our time. Yes, it is very possible that they were all lesbians, but I resent the implication that these three scientific women who knew each other must also have been lovers.

I can't believe so many people thought this was a good idea.