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By Indu Balachandran/Deccan Herald
Bengaluru, April 21: If somebody said ‘Inventions’ the first word you’ll probably associate with it is ‘wheel’. And you’ll assume Early Man invented it. But I’d like to think it was Early Woman. Because the most practical labour saving devices have come from simple logical ways to make life easier for womankind (rather than the generalisation– mankind).
April 21 is celebrated as World Creativity&Innovation Day to mark Leonardo da Vinci’s birthday (born 1452). I am happy to share with you that even the world’s greatest inventive mind ever attributed his creativity to his strong feminine side.
That lightbulb moment
True, Edison’s Light Bulb electrified the whole world’s imagination towards techy inventions, yet you’ll be amazed how many products came about, simply by women finding ways to cope with the drudgery of housework.
Like the humble mop. Remember ‘Joy’— the Oscar winning film of the true-life Joy Mogano (Jennifer Lawrence) a self-made millionaire in NewYork? This divorced single mother used her frustration with wet hands and back-breaking swabbing, to figure out a simple twist in the long handle, and created a self-wringing mop. Her first TV demo show sold 18,000 mops in 20 seconds! Inspiring several clever kitchen conveniences you use today.
Like the simple foot-pedal to open and shut a trashcan, invented by Lillian Gilbert, a housewife with both hands full. (She had 12 kids!) The automatic Rotimatic by Pranoti Israni who’s arms got tired rolling out endless chappatis. The strap-on baby carrier Snugli by Ann Moore, which kept a busy mother’s hands free for multitasking.
Overworked new moms owe it to Marion Donovan for her ‘mother of all inventions’. One long night, a sleep deprived Marion snipped away a piece of her shower curtain, placed her baby’s nappy within, ran her sewing machine; sewed on fasteners— and went back to sleep. A few years later, P&G bought her patent for millions, to create Pampers!
And when women, battling sexism and bias, stormed scientific labs, miracles broke through their test tubes. Biologist Katherine McCormick was responsible for the revolutionary Birth Control Pill. Asima Chatterjee researched curative plants and discovered the safest drug to treat malaria and epilepsy. Stephanie Kwolek’s experiments resulted in a tough wonder material —leading to another kind of life-saver: the bullet-proof vest. Schoolgirl Gitanjali Rao—all of 15, invented a device Tethys to measure lead content in water, even landing up as TIME’s Top Young Innovator of 2020.
Wifey behind your Wi-Fi
But did you ever imagine Hollywood’s most ravishing actress of the 30’s (Samson&Delilah) is behind your Wifi, GPS and Bluetooth today?! Hedy Lamarr (who dismantled a musicbox to learn how things worked at age 5) broke out of her stifling marriage to a rich arms-dealer for Hitler. And with her gifted mathematical ability, went on to co-develop ‘frequency hopping’ in WW-2. This prevented enemies jamming torpedo signals, guiding them to reach targets accurately—revolutionary technology that’s the foundation for the guided portable devices we use every day.
But here’s another example of unsung female ingenuity. In 1928, Anita Willets-Burnham, a travelling artist found no porter(nor a husband) to carry her bags; so attached four baby carriage wheels below her heavy suitcase—oh how smooth her world travels became— besides putting the suitcase industry on a roll.
On Leonardo Da Vinci’s 572nd birthday, he’d be pleased to know that it took a woman to reinvent the wheel.
HeSaid/SheSaid is a monthly column on gender issues—funny side up.
Reach the author at indubee8@yahoo.co.in
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