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A family story and a personal reflection on being a woman in the Academy 
. I found myself thinking a lot about this over the past year, so here we go:
My great-great-aunt was an Italian neurologist working at the University of Pavia from the mid-1920s to the 60s.
. I found myself thinking a lot about this over the past year, so here we go: My great-great-aunt was an Italian neurologist working at the University of Pavia from the mid-1920s to the 60s.
Not coming from a wealthy family, it took her hard work, determination, and talent to obtain her medical degree and subsequently a research post at the University. Soon after, she married an influential Italian neurologist and together they continued a career in research.
She was strong-willed, political, unapologetic, creative, and fiercely intelligent. This is what I came to think of her today, but this is not how I was raised to perceived her, or how anyone perceived her at the time.
The men in her life (and some of the older men in mine) described her with attributes ranging from difficult to lunatic. I distinctly remember how they thought an indication of her madness was being obsessed with not getting the recognition she deserved for her research work.
As a child, I dismissed her as my âmadâ relative, but now I know that she was not mad at all, she was a woman in the Academy who had suffered discrimination, abuse and who was rightfully demanding to be seen and heard.
Because she decided to just not passively accept being invisible and was vocal about it, she was labeled as crazy and dismissed by the men in her life. The wildest thing is that this not only impacted her career and personal life at the time but also tainted her memory.
How I would like to think that this is just a sad story from the past, IT ISNâT. Women are still systematically dismissed and denigrated. Every day misogyny pervades our lives, we must recognize it and be aware of the long shadows it casts.
This should not just be womenâs responsibility but everyoneâs priority within and outside the Academy. Misogyny often starts small, from seemingly innocent male-dominated narratives. Letâs rewrite these narratives TOGETHER.
p.s. I also imagine that the harsh, conservative men surrounding my great-great-aunt did not approve of her forming a new romantic relationship after her famed husband died âwith a woman, a former nun to be preciseâ with whom she found happiness. 
