We Are Lady Parts: the perfect blend of science, culture, and representation.
Initially published as a LinkedIn article in June 2024.
We need defined projects and places for science and the arts to collaborate; and sometimes we should recognise when these forces successfully meet organically – for example on television.
For much of my career, I’ve been interested in how we make science, and particularly biology, relevant to people’s lives. In many ways, opting out of this isn’t really a choice – being alive means that you are experiencing biology, and all its associated joys and complications. But beyond this broad-ranging position, what if we’d like to enable specific groups to consider specific topics, such as young people with no connections to science and their career choices? How do we create inclusive and visible role models? It turns out that We Are Lady Parts may just be the answer that we didn’t know we needed.
You don’t have to be a science enthusiast to enjoy We Are Lady Parts. It is a television show that works as a genuinely funny romcom; has an amazing lead character with a relatable internal monologue; is an honest representation of female friendships; showcases what being a Muslim woman in Britain can be, in all its wide-ranging forms; and channels the legacy of Poly Styrene and X-Ray Spex with some great music. When season one dropped on Channel 4 in 2021, I quickly moved from guarded appreciation to a fully comprehensive admiration of showrunner Nida Manzoor, for her ability to translate universal experiences into some very specific cultural contexts.
But brilliance aside, why is We Are Lady Parts relevant to science engagement? Because as well as being a Muslim, elite-level guitarist, the show’s lead character Amina is also a British woman of South Asian-heritage, studying for a PhD in microbiology. It has been a long time since I have been an active researcher, but a lot of my professional identity is still based around being a microbiologist. And if I’m on the verge of doing Yay! Representation! fist pumps while watching this show, I can only imagine the impact on someone who didn’t think science was for them; but then sees themselves on screen, literally doing science as an every day part of their life.
So how realistic is Amina as a role model, representing the glorious world of microbiology? Well, pretty good, in my opinion. But if the We Are Lady Parts team wanted to enhance its accuracy, and develop Amina into a fully authentic microbiologist, here’s what I’d suggest:
Lose the goggles. Eye protection is needed to minimise the risk of splash injuries when working with hazardous chemicals, not while standing at the bench looking at solid agar plates.
No self-respecting microbiologist puts their handbag on the lab bench. Although the days of ethidium bromide staining may be behind us, I still don’t want to risk my Radley tote being contaminated with ampicillin-resistant E.coli, or whatever else might have been on that bench previously.
If Amina is working on ‘pathogenic’ bacteria (or possibly fungi?) she needs to be growing them on agar, not inoculating directly onto an empty plastic Petri dish. In fact, there doesn’t seem to be much evidence of bacterial or fungal cultures in this lab at all. Where are the incubators and flasks of Luria–Bertani broth?
An open lab coat is a stylish look, but of minimal value when something unexpected tips out of the autoclave onto you. Button it all the way up girl.
I’m about to start watching season two, so perhaps all these observations will be addressed then. Or perhaps we’ll never hear about Amina’s research career again? I don’t really mind either way, as We Are Lady Parts has already created a visible, representative, and relatable role model for women aspiring to work in science, and for those who have never considered this sector. I’m not Muslim, and I’m certainly not a guitar genius, but Amina is a character who reflects multiple personal and professional identities, and isn’t it this complexity that makes us interesting as individuals?
We Are Lady Parts isn’t an ‘official’ science and arts collaboration, but it is a great example of science content hiding in plain sight, in an engaging and creative form, and delivered through an accessible medium (free-to-air television). And the more opportunities there are to include representation of the diversity of people and careers in science, the more our world is a slightly better place.
