“Let me tell you
about my trouble with girls…Three things happen when they are in the lab: You
fall in love with them, they fall in love with you, and when you criticize them
they cry.” –Tim Hunt (2001 Nobel laureate in Physiology or Medicine) , June 2015
What an idiot.
The best part of this story does not come from him. Rather, they come from the voices of dissent-- the #distractinglysexy women of science. The fury, the wit, the sarcasm-- all perfect reactions to his arcane sentiment. Joined by two of my colleagues in the mouse room, we added strength to the Twitter storm with our own pictures.
Very much like the dress codes of a trendy New York club, we COH scientists have to adhere to the "distractingly sexy" attire requirements of the animal facility... or else... we get bounced.
Keep in mind this is only to enter the building. In order to visit the animals, we have to step it up a notch five freakier notches by donning classy booties, a see-through baby blue gown, a hair cover, face mask, and gloves.
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| An ideal level of perfection |
So far you probably want me to tone down the sexiness. I cannot. It's the reality of our job as cancer researchers. So without further ado, I present the #distractinglysexy images of Dr.'s Hernandez-Davies, Min Pan, and Lowman.
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| Dr. Hernandez-Davies and Dr. Min Pan dressed to the nines to check on the mice. |
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| Unknowingly channeling the distractingly good-looking Jude Law and Jason Statham in Spy. However, these doctors "guns" are hidden beneath layers of sophistication. |
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| "Pose sexy" was the directive from Dr. Hernandez-Davies. A bemused Dr. Lowman asked, "How do I do that?" This led to Dr. H-D suggesting a variety of poses that ranged from kicking one foot back (see next image), bending one knee (above), and doing something with one arm that was suspiciously reminiscent of a fishy dance move of the eighties. |
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| Obviously, a swooning Dr. Hernandez-Davies, returning a cage. |
And for the astute readers who may point out that the location (mouse room) is the cause of the distractingly sexy pictures, allow me the pleasure to point out that the appeal cannot be turned off. In early 2014, a forest fire near campus caused the scientists in the building to choose an earlier expiration date on life by NOT wearing a mask or choose the #distractinglysexy option that supposedly would prevent an uptake of pollutants in the air.
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| Dr. Hernandez-Davies was appropriately referred to as Bane and Dr. Lowman inappropriately called a ninja turtle. |
I want to end this post on a serious note. The sentiment expressed by Hunt is frustrating, his logic ridiculous, and his words infuriating. While working in the tissue culture room, Dr. Min Pan brought up the glaring point, "I don't understand why he [Hunt] is blaming women for being too distracting. Why can't men just control themselves?"
To which the token male of the lab quipped (and I give my assent), "Men are dogs."
