******************** POSTING RULES & NOTES ******************** #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. *****************************************************************
Even though German-Dutch naturalist Maria Sibylla Merian has been dead for over 300 years, she is currently having a moment in popular crafting culture and in children’s literature. Merian is featured on Etsy; she is frequently pinned on Pinterest; and you can read about her curiosity for butterflies and caterpillars in many books for children—several of which refer to her as “a girl.” Less well known in popular culture, however, is Merian’s status as an enslaver; her dependence on enslaved indigenous and African cultivators for her study of plants and insects in Surinam; and her reference to enslaved women’s reliance on infanticide and abortion. These popular depictions of Merian sidestep the politics of sexual reproduction under colonialism and slavery and ignore the context in which Merian undertook her research. Instead, Merian is renown within a softer, more palatable narrative as a woman scientist who created beautifully illustrated books.
https://www.ladyscience.com/breeding-insects-and-reproducing-white-supremacy/no57 _________________________________________________________ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: https://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
