When Cambridge University advised its examiners to avoid words like ‘genius’ and ‘brilliant’ because they exclude women, many of us rolled our eyes and dismissed it as political correctness gone wild.
But close your eyes – what’s the first image that comes to your mind when you hear the word genius? Is it Albert Einstein? Stephen Hawking, perhaps? Shakespeare or Steve Jobs?
Whether you’re female or male, odds are your mind sees a man.
These associations affect our perceptions of others, which in turn affects their self-image and choices. Gender gap in the sciences, for instance, can be partly explained by the notion that these areas call for ‘genius’ or raw natural ability, which many women don’t feel confident they possess.
Reasons for that lack of confidence are also cultural; in the US a depressing piece of research found that even six-year-olds were likely to think of only boys as ‘brilliant’. When professors are rated, it’s men who’re described as stars and visionaries, and the same qualities are overlooked or disparaged in women.
Think of the routine putdown ‘hysterical’, which literally means a disorder caused by the womb.
The idea of a lone genius is a Romantic myth; hard work, collaboration and luck have as much to do with accomplishment as ability, and none of these traits are sexual characteristics. Thinking harder about how we fling around words like flair and brilliance might foster a better intellectual climate, all around.