Imagine in the mid 1950’s, a woman at a bank desk working as a secretary at the bank she worked at. The secretary named Bette Graham was working on the new electric typewriter the bank had just ordered. These typewriters were not very efficient and made a huge mess when you make an error in spelling. Bette Graham decided that she would invent something that would cover up the mistake and dry very quickly. After many trails and error and, Bette had success when she concocted the mixture of liquid paper. Her male boss told her “stop putting that white stuff on my paper” when she made and error on her paper. She and her family now have a $50 million fortune because of her determination to not stop making the liquid paper. Patently Female is about the inventions and innovations women have made over the past centuries. It explains the hardship, struggles, and failure that women have gone through to reach success. It similar to an article called “The Felon and the Rhodes Scholar”. It is about to people named Wes Moore who lived near each other and lead to different lives. The Rhodes Scholar Wes Moore became very successful because of his determination and ability to work; the other Wes Moore became a felon and is now in prison. Patently Female by Ethlie Ann Vare and Greg Ptacek teaches readers, especially women, that through struggles and doubt, determination and the need for new products will get a woman to success.
Success is defined as an event that accomplishes its intended purpose. My goals in life are to finish high school, go to college, and have acumen in the major that I have not yet decided on yet. The obstacles that I may face are being discouraged about what I want to do and not being able to apply myself to my work. The book is basically about determination and the obstacles that women have been through to add to the inventions over time. When the very cogent Patsy Sherman, the inventor of Geobond, said to her female teacher “I want to be a nuclear physicist; she was then named most confused person in her class” (Vare, Ptacek 47). Her teacher thought it was chimerical; luckily Sherman was a resilient person and did not let her teacher get her hopes down. This section in the book shows how women were very discouraged to be successful and that women could never get far enough in life to become a nuclear physicist or anything useful in the world. That section inspires me to push through all the work that I have to do and be successful in the end.
Patently Female is structured into chapters. Under the chapters are sections of the innovation or invention the women have made such as “It Took a Woman”. The beginning of the book has prologue and the ending of the book has an epilogue that summarizes the accomplishment and struggles the women have made and gone through. For example in the prologue it summarizes that determination is key when it comes to success. Patricia Billings was an artist and a chemist who wanted to create a material for her art sculptures so they would not break. Billings “was determined in making this product… she stayed in her basement lab working on the perfect mixture for years” (Vare, Ptacek 12). This is definitely important because to be successful you have to have determination. Even after trying and failing, she finally had her success. The writing style in this book is very informational and tedious because it just facts about the inventions they have made. An example would be there are 3 pages worth of information on the invention of optical imaging by Ellen Ochoa. It basically states every little detail about optical imaging. The strength of this book would be that it encourages women to be what they want to be and do not let any obstacles get in your way. The weaknesses would be that the structure of the book is kind of confusing but it still is a good book.
When I read Patently Female, I learned specific things about technology, medicine, fun and games, innovations in space, practicalities, and house hold items that women have invented. I have also learned that women have made a lot of contributions to society with their inventions
A reader, especially women, should care about this book because this is a very inspiring book that teaches women to never give up, always having determination, and always doing your best. I would recommend this book to everyone, even men, because as I stated before this book is about reaching success in anything you inspire to do. I would not read any other text from the authors because the text that they write tedious and kind of dull. Overall this book is really factual and inspiring. If the reader has a chance to read this book the reader should.
Success is defined as an event that accomplishes its intended purpose. My goals in life are to finish high school, go to college, and have acumen in the major that I have not yet decided on yet. The obstacles that I may face are being discouraged about what I want to do and not being able to apply myself to my work. The book is basically about determination and the obstacles that women have been through to add to the inventions over time. When the very cogent Patsy Sherman, the inventor of Geobond, said to her female teacher “I want to be a nuclear physicist; she was then named most confused person in her class” (Vare, Ptacek 47). Her teacher thought it was chimerical; luckily Sherman was a resilient person and did not let her teacher get her hopes down. This section in the book shows how women were very discouraged to be successful and that women could never get far enough in life to become a nuclear physicist or anything useful in the world. That section inspires me to push through all the work that I have to do and be successful in the end.
Patently Female is structured into chapters. Under the chapters are sections of the innovation or invention the women have made such as “It Took a Woman”. The beginning of the book has prologue and the ending of the book has an epilogue that summarizes the accomplishment and struggles the women have made and gone through. For example in the prologue it summarizes that determination is key when it comes to success. Patricia Billings was an artist and a chemist who wanted to create a material for her art sculptures so they would not break. Billings “was determined in making this product… she stayed in her basement lab working on the perfect mixture for years” (Vare, Ptacek 12). This is definitely important because to be successful you have to have determination. Even after trying and failing, she finally had her success. The writing style in this book is very informational and tedious because it just facts about the inventions they have made. An example would be there are 3 pages worth of information on the invention of optical imaging by Ellen Ochoa. It basically states every little detail about optical imaging. The strength of this book would be that it encourages women to be what they want to be and do not let any obstacles get in your way. The weaknesses would be that the structure of the book is kind of confusing but it still is a good book.
When I read Patently Female, I learned specific things about technology, medicine, fun and games, innovations in space, practicalities, and house hold items that women have invented. I have also learned that women have made a lot of contributions to society with their inventions
A reader, especially women, should care about this book because this is a very inspiring book that teaches women to never give up, always having determination, and always doing your best. I would recommend this book to everyone, even men, because as I stated before this book is about reaching success in anything you inspire to do. I would not read any other text from the authors because the text that they write tedious and kind of dull. Overall this book is really factual and inspiring. If the reader has a chance to read this book the reader should.
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