I call it the Casaubon Complex, or possibly Syndrome

[oursin]

Came across a tweet lately that apparently the latest idea of the ideal trophy wife for 'tech bros' is a brilliant high-flying woman with an amazing career who will give it up to have their babies.

- And after I had disposed of the sickbag in a tidy and hygienic fashion -

- Especially taking into account the comments that said that even high-powered laydeez probably wished to spend time enjoying the joys of motherhood (while not expressing any notion that high-powered blokes might spend the odd moment enjoying the joys of fatherhood, beyond the sensation of having achieved paternity) -

- and the ones that were veering off into very dodgy eugenicist territory about picking the best vessels for super-sperm -

I thought to myself, how is this new, across a whole range of human endeavours, that men marry women who are as good as, or even superior to, them, in order that they may be that line in the acknowledgements to their work, whatever it is 'and my wife, without whom' etc. (As well as bearing the fruit of their loins, and keeping it out of the great man's way while he does His Important Stuff.)

(I will also give a shout-out to sisters, e.g. Sophie Brahe and Caroline Herschel.)

But on wives as helpmeets and handmaidens, I was particularly struck by the following, from Patricia Fara's Pandora's Breeches, on Mary, the wife of the nineteenth century geologist Charles Lyell:

She translated foreign works that he could not understand, she illustrated his books because he could not draw, she edited his writing to ensure that it was stylishly written and error-free, she became more expert than him on conchology, and she classified his specimens to save him the trouble.

a not atypical Victorian scientific wife, and a pattern of many wives who facilitated the careers of 'Great Men'. Not just sitting around being a beautiful inspiring Angel in the House.

Comments

[watersword]

The more I see of men, the more I like cats, as a variety of personages did not say.

[niqaeli]

I mean, I saw that and mostly sighed because it is indeed hardly new.

Then I went back to my terrible and great dream of 1 year's paid parental leave for all new parents, because my god that has done wonders for equalising career tracking across a whole swath of endeavours in the few places that something like it has been implemented. While also doing good things for family relationships, to boot.

[kore]

That reminds me of that Twitter thread from the person who went through a ton of acks on I think Google Books and was horrifying people with how many women have been uncredited collaborators through the decades/centuries....

[emceeaich]

When I was still living in Mountain View, I saw so many of those women pushing strollers and wondering how many would be lamented about a future Woolfe.

[thistleingrey]

Yes, it's very much an And Then I Subjugated Her kind of thing, nothing new. I don't see it much firsthand from the front lines, fortunately, but it's not a sensational myth. :(

[sara]

Speaking as a single woman with a career in the land of tech bros, as far as I can tell from their dating profiles they're mostly interested in having a romantic relationship with the Seahawks.

[rmc28]

I am still vaguely annoyed that when fanf and I got married (working for the same employer, similar roles in different specialisms), everyone asked ME if we were having children, and not one person asked HIM. He escaped silly valley in the early noughties so probably doesn't count as a tech bro anyway.

I do love our children, and I haven't actually given up my career, but I know I'd have been able to do a lot more if we hadn't had them. Certainly while he has found his happy satisfied niche of employment, I am rather more frustrated/bored as the price of my reliable paycheck, job security etc.

[oracne]

So really, she could have tossed Charles Lyell off a cliff and passed it off as a Fossils Accident.

[silveradept]

Oh, we wonder what our histories might be like if all those women who participated were credited and promoted accordingly.

[malkingrey]

At least Emily Roebling got her own plaque on the Brooklyn Bridge (and a much-belated obituary in the New York Times) for the work she did on the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge after her husband, the chief engineer, was disabled by caisson disease during the bridge's construction.