Do you think that Rosalind's opinion that marriage and science are not meant to coexist for working women is a product of her time period, or her personality?

Rosalind asserts early on that marriage and science are not meant to coexist for working women. Do you think that idea is a product of her time period, or her personality? Does she reevaluate it throughout the book, and if so, how?

It certainly wasn’t common for women to be working as scientists so I don’t know if it was the job she was doing or her feelings about being married that kept her from marrying .

She was an extremely determined and driven personality and I would think she wouldn’t want to devote any of her time to anything but her research.

I think her ideas about marriage were more her personality. She was working in the lab weekends, nights, when others weren't. Her meticulousness cause her to redo and recheck. Those traits made it difficult to let in the role of a family. She was wealthy enough that menial chores would not have been an issue which would have given her time to also be a scientist. The men she was attracted to were other scientists. Her only escape was her few planned tripped where she did mountain climbing.

As I stated in an answer to an earlier question, behavior often result from multiple causes. Many professional women in decades past had no role models whom successfully mixed career and family, so they more often chose one or the other. Today, although still not as easy as for men, combining career and family is more common and accepted.

I think it is a combination. She knows she would have a difficult time sharing her life with research and another person. Research would probably win, the marriage would take second place.

Elizabeth

I agree with elizabethk that she knew herself as well as the society of the time. She would not have been happy with a partner less committed to his own research and I wonder how such a marriage would survive, with both people spending all day and night every day and night at the lab. I'm sure there are such marriages, but....

I think it was a little of each. I think she yearned for a relationship, and perhaps if she had met the right person, she would have been able to overcome her doubts. But it is still tough trying to have it all.

I believe that it was Rosalind's time period, upbringing and the demands of being a scientist that formed her opinion. Even now it is still difficult for a woman scientist in most fields to make the commitment to marriage and family, at least until she is well-established in her field.

I agree that although she would have loved to be in a supportive relationship she knew it probably would not have worked for her. She was too committed to her work and at the time few men would have tolerated having a wife who whose work was so all consuming, and probably more prestigious than theirs.

I think it is probably both. While it was harder to find that kind of a job for women in general no matter their talent, either because it used to be (still is in some places) a male's game arena or because "women should marry, have kids and take care of their homes", it seems that Rosalind Franklin's personality would also have made it harder for a relationship to work, she had a hard time to leave her work, physycally and in her mind

While I think that Franklin's personality largely influenced her decision not to mix science and family, I think that it was a realistic view of women's life both then and now. Women may be employed more often in labs now but they are still expected to carry a full load of child-rearing and home-making responsibilities, in effect, juggling three jobs. Franklin was probably very wise in deciding to focus on science.

Her personality since not all female scientists felt that dichotomy of life choices. There are still many women who do not believe that they can " have it all" and for some that is true. There needs to be a support system at home and for some that does not happen--some men are threatened by women who have careers and excel at them. The times are no different now in some circles

It would have been difficult for her to give her emotions and time to a marriage given her intensity that she spent on her vocation.

Rosalind's thoughts were a product of her time. Most women were told to stay home and raise a family, but some were told they could only be teachers or nurses. Thank goodness for women's lib!!

I think it was a bit of both, having said that she worked long hours in her lab and she probably thought she would not have time for husband, children and her work.

Both personality and time period. I think Rosalind's feelings about marriage and children were a function of her goals and desire for status as a scientist. As a female in the late 1940's, she persevered to become a notable scientist among male scientists of the time. She was driven to make discoveries as a crystallographer; discoveries that could "impact the entire human family. Not one family alone." Underlying her determination and "scientific gifts," however, was also her opinion about motherhood. In the book she says, "that women's status is bound up with maternity is one reason I've decided to eschew marriage and children."

I think it was a combination of her times and her personality, but more the latter. Dorothy Hodgkin, who was a crystallographer working during the same period as Franklin, was married. I think she would have had to find someone who was the supportive of her being a scientist and working such long hours.

I agree that it was the time period and her personality which made her commitment to her research so compelling. She knew she had to work harder and longer hours to achieve her goals in a profession dominated by men. Her scientific endeavors and mountain climbing hobby consumed her life.

I think that Rosalind instinctively knew that she could not straddle the two "lives" and be true to both. She put her personal life second to her life as a scientist.

I believe it is both. I think most men that time did not believe in women working, especially in her social milieu. Also I think she was a work alcoholic and found great joy in her work.

I think Rosalind's beliefs that marriage and science didn't mix are mostly the result of her personality and who she was. I do think that toward the end of the book her feelings were changing. If she weren't dying from cancer, I think she might have had a relationship with Don.

I think that even today a woman (or man)can be so caught up in a career that there is little time left for family.

I think that Rosalind was a woman and was Jewish played a huge part in her opinions. However, I think the biggest thing was that she was a very dedicated scientist. Being raised in a family filled with scientist and engineers, they tend not to be very emotional. I think that they want to spend their time and energy pursuing their search for scientific research and solutions.