Science, Gender, and Race in conversations about Hidden Figures

In this paper, we analyze perceptions about black women in science, based on conversations about the film Hidden Figures. The movie portrays the trajectory of three black female NASA scientists, in the context of racial segregation in the USA in the 1960s. Through Content Analysis, we investigate comments on Letterboxd, in order to identify meanings produced by viewers. The results indicate the predominance of comments that celebrate the leading role of black women, even though they reinforce the appeal to the individual merit in the face of structural asymmetries. There are also criticisms of the maintenance of conservative stereotypes, such as the “white savior”. These conversations reveal intersectional crossings in the public perception of science and the relevance of more diverse media representations of scientific activity in terms of gender and race.

Keywords:
Gender; Race; Intersectionality; Representation; Public Perception of Science