#Radium Girls

[marzipanandminutiae]

speaking of the Radium Girls...god, that story is enough to make a conspiracy theorist out of one, if one's not careful to remain levelheaded and make judgments based on reliable, peer-reviewed science

because like. yeah, corporations DO cover up the health dangers of their products for years on end. that's like a known thing they're quite fond of doing

heavy-metal dyes. radium. tobacco products. PFAs. the indoor tanning industry is STILL trying to argue that tanning beds don't give you cancer- I've read newspaper articles theorizing a link between UV and melanoma as far back as the 1940s, though I'm not sure the lack of coverage was corporation-related since tanning beds didn't exist yet and big holiday resorts had other draws besides sunbathing

I'm not going to go full "5G IS SATAN!!" or anything. the evidence of that, to my mind, is lacking; the evidence against it substantial (also some chucklefucks are selling definitely radioactive "anti 5G devices" so uh. that makes it pretty clear which the rational side is in that debate)

but you have to wonder- what could it be right now, without us knowing? what's the next radium?

#history #current events #radium girls #too much knowledge written in blood. you have to keep your wits about you and not fall prey to fearmongering #while still recognizing that you can't trust corporations to care about anything but their bottom line #anxiety

[batwynn]

Rest in fury, Radium Girls.

#radium girls #poem #comic #history #radiation poisoning #tw: body horror #tw: illness #tw: death #tw: murder

[cassowariess]

So I'm reading the non fiction book Radium Girls by Kate Moore, and I know a fair bit about it already. I'm sure a lot of people who have heard of the Radium Girls also know it caused cancer and symptoms similar to phossy jaw before killing the workers.

What I didn't know, however, and which I was pretty horrified by, is one of the victims, Edna Bolz-Hussman, thought that she'd gotten off relatively unscathed compared to the other girls because she had left her job at the factory earlier. One evening she was fumbling in the dark for her anemia medication and happened to look up in the bathroom mirror and saw her own skeleton, glowing green under her skin in the dark.

I...just.

#radium girls #that's fucking...haunting #radium dial workers #books #history

[itsladykit]

One thing that drives me nuts about the narrative surrounding the Radium Girls is that the company still has such a strong hold on the way the story is often told.

Granted, it may be an attempt to affirm to a modern audience that these girls--deliberately using 'girls', not 'women' because most of them were in their teens or early twenties at most--had no idea how harmful radium could be, but the narrative always seems to start out that "no one knew it was dangerous".

As soon as anyone does a deep dive, though, you realize someone did: company higher ups. In fact, men working in the same company--doing a different job, that I would say involved less contact with radium--were given full PPE for their jobs. One company scientist, upon hearing the women were practicing "lip-dipping"--which involved the girls using their lips to bring the fine-bristled, radium-soaked paintbrushes to a point--was reportedly horrified and tried to stop the practice, before any of the girls ever reported any symptoms. But the policy wasn't enforced because stopping the girls from lip-dipping cut into profits. So they turned a blind eye, telling the girls radium was completely safe out of one side of their mouth while they told the men to fully suit up out of the other.

There's better coverage of the company's reprehensible behavior during the trials--claiming the girls' symptoms were a sign of syphilis, funding misleading/fabricated studies on the safety of radium, etc. I really just wish it was more clearly stated that the company knew from the start. That knowledge hadn't trickled down to the general population yet, and they fully took advantage of that.

#radium girls #radium #unionize motherfucker #OSHA

[valeriesrevenge]

I’ve been reading this book (for free on Libby) for the last couple days and it is so sad but also incredibly poignant, and reflects a horrible injustice that impacted working class women. Includes themes of medical gaslighting, medical misogyny, capitalist exploitation and the brave tenderness of female friendships in the face of all horror and pain.

#book recommendations #radium girls #radical feminism #gender critical #radfems please interact #radfem do touch #radfem safe

[bitterbluebells]

"Our Lady of Radium, light up the dark~"

#fanart #digital art #medibang #digital artist #charming disaster #album art #radium #radium girls #marie curie #medibagpaint #charming disaster fanart

[carriagelamp]

A few days late, but I'm lazy...

My favourite books that I read during 2023!

I got really lucky this year, I read some ridiculously good books, to the point that I had a really hard time narrowing them down. And I cheated on a few and bunched them up so I wouldn't have to choose 🙃

I did more detailed assessments of the books in my month reviews, but for anyone that's interested in something I read, here's a quick description:

Annie: An Old-Fashioned Story by Thomas Meehan -- A novelization of the Little Orphan Annie story, close related to the film musical including references to the songs. A charming read that captures the enjoyment of the film but adds a lot more details into the struggles and hardships Annie would have gone through during life on her own in the Depression.

Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfeild -- Three girls from a poor family in London end up being welcomed to a ballet academy where they have the opportunity to learn not only how to dance, but to begin attending performances that let them earn money for their family. Follows the heart warming adventures of sisters with a nice balance of financial hardship and obligations during the Depression.

Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle -- A possession horror based around religious trauma and sexual identity. Fantastic prose and genuinely chilling at points without ever feeling hopeless. Here the demons that start stalking people in this God-fearing Montana town are both metaphorical and literal.

A Christmas Story by Jean Shepherd -- A collection of radio stories that follow the childhood misadventures of Ralphie; these stories would go to make up the classic film A Christmas Story, and Shepherd's hilarious, clever prose makes it a very fun read whether you know the film or not.

Doctor Who: Scratchman by Tom Baker -- I actually read a number of pretty good Doctor Who novels this year (13 Doctors 13 Stories, Time Lord Fairytales, Silhouette) and even a Torchwood one (Skypoint) but Scratchman was probably my favourite of the lot. The Fourth Doctor, Sarah, and Harry find themselvese in a horror adventures as they try to defend a host of villagers against an invading force of evil, skeletal scarecrows that are attempting to infect the humans around them.

Dogsbody by Diana Wynne Jones -- The star Sirius is accused of killing another luminary and losing a powerful instrument called a Zoi. His sentence for this crime is to be stripped of his powers and cast down to earth, to spend one lifetime living in a humble, mortal form - that of a true dog. If he can survive and find the Zoi within that lifetime, he will be welcomed back to the cosmos.

Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire -- A novella that explores the rehabilitation of children who had been chosen, who found a doorway and stepped into another, strange world. Adventures done, they now need to acclimatize themselves to living in the rigid confines of the real world.

Grandpa's Great Escape by David Walliams -- A hilarious and surprisingly heart-warming story about a boy and his grandfather who was a flying ace during the war. With his mind beginning to fail him, the grandfather is sent to live at a sinister and definitely evil old folks' home. Only Jack can save him.

Hazel's Shadow by Nicole MacCarron -- Hazel has always been plagued by strange visions - the ability to see and speak to ghosts, as well as the knowledge of a strange, nameless horror living in her grandmother's house. Things come to a head though, when a sudden, zombie-like illness explodes through her town leaving only a few left alive, too many ghosts to count, enemies at every turn, and the shadow waiting for them.

Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree -- (as well as it's sequel that came out later in the year, Bookshops & Bonedust). This was such a pleasant, low-stakes, domestic fantasy about Viv, an orcish ex-mercenary who has decided she's tired of fighting and would rather settle down and open a coffeeshop. One of the sticking points being, of course, that no one knows what coffee is.

Love Beyond Body, Space & Time by assorted authors, anthology -- An Indigenous queer sci-fi anthology with a really excellent collection of stories, including an author I already knew and loved! The stories explore a wide range of gender, sexuality, magic, machines, and ways of being, I highly recommend picking it up!

A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske -- Robin, a young baronet, thought he was being shunted into the most out of the way and miserable public servant position imaginable. He expected things to be tedious but necessary. He did not expect to suddenly learn that magic is real and to be tangled in its machinations in a potentially lethal way.

(MDZS) Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu -- Rejoice, because the feared Yiling Patriarch, the necromancer terror who slaughtered thousands, is dead! And has been dead the past decade. And is now very, very confused to wake up in a new body that isn't his, in a room he's never seen before, and to be thrust into the middle of a murder mystery where everyone would want him dead if they were to learn his real identity.

Moominland Midwinter by Tove Jansson -- Moomins hibernate through the winter, that's how it has always been for them. So when young Moomintroll wakes and finds the rest of his family still fast asleep, he's left feeling lost and isolated in this new, strange, snow covered world beyond his door.

A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers -- (and its sequel A Prayer for the Crown-Shy) A very gentle, compassionate sci-fi novel that explores a world humans have created post-climate-crisis. Life is different, the past distant, and a young tea monk never expected to run into an actual robot, who had so long ago left humanity to live their own secluded life in the wilds. Now they're both struggling to answer the question "What do humans need?"

The Radium Girls by Kate Moore -- (and Kate Moore's other book The Woman They Could Not Silence) The Radium Girls is a narrative non-fiction book that looks at the lives of the girls who were paid to paint luminous watch dials using radium paint. It explores the horror, exploitation, and suffering that came from work place negligence and the world's gradual learning about what exactly radium can do.

Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston -- Presidential son and British prince are forced together for the sake of publicity - to prove that they don't actual hate each other and aren't going to cause a diplomatic incident. They cause a whole new and exciting diplomatic incident by falling in love! Do not read this for the politics, but it did end up being way way better than I expected, this author creates quite compelling characters.

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett -- Sour, spoiled, and ill Mary is sent to live with her distant uncle on the Yorkshire moors. Set to be as contrary and unhappy as possible, little by little Mary begins to come out of her shell as she experiences nature, play, and love for perhaps the first time in her life.

System Collapse by Martha Wells -- Newest Murderbot book!! Murderbot, ART's crew, and the humans from Preservation are doing their best to defend the colonists on a plant that's cursed with a strange, alien plague from being consumed by the more immediate threat of corporate slavery. Something, however, seems to be wrong with Murderbot and its worried that if it can't fix the problem soon, it may cost its humans their lives.

(TGCF) Heaven Official's Blessing by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu -- Xie Lian is a god. Was a good. He has ascended to godhood twice, and been banished back to earth twice. Once a favour among the gods, he is now a laughing stock, a scrap-collecting god who has been forgotten by almost everyone. So it is with some shock and exasperation to all involved when he ascends for a third time.

This Is How You Lose The Time War by Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone -- A ridiculous poetic novella written through improbable letters that are written between two time travels on opposites sides of a time war. Seriously, this is probably the most beautiful book I read this year, go read it, the hype is justified.

Wave Me Goodbye by Jacqueline Wilson -- As World War Two rages, Shirley, like many children of the time, is sent from her home in London to be housed by a foster family in the country in order to avoid the Blitz. Put up with two boys in the strange, mostly empty Red House, Shirley has to find a new life for herself out in the country.

When The Angels Left The Old Country by Sacha Lamb -- Uriel the angel and Little Ash the demon find themselves drawn from their usual lives when a young girl from their shtetl goes missing after emigrating to America. Both with their own reasons for wanting to leave the old country, they set off on a sea voyage that will change everything for them.

Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame -- The classic stories of Rat, Mole, and Toad. The story begins when Mole, venturing out of his little burrow, meets Rat and winds up living with him in his little home by the river rather than returning to his own, lonely, little hole. From there they have a variety of domestic adventures over the seasons, most notable being Toad's ill-fated obsession with motor cars.

#book review #book reviews #mdzs #tgcf #doctor who #diana wynne jones #when the angels left the old country #chuck tingle #camp damascus #this is how you lose the time war #wind in the willows #tom baker #murderbot #system collapse #moomin #moominland midwinter #tove jansson #radium girls #red white and royal blue #queer lit #canadian #canlit #legends & lattes #the secret garden #a marvellous light #annie #david walliams #a christmas story #dogsbody #ugh more than that but god help me if i try to tag them all

[books-and-cookies]

5 SECOND REVIEW

* what a book, what a story, someone hold me, i'm weak

* this is the story of women who worked at a company that made luminous dials for watches, and these women painted them, using paint with radium in it, during a time when radium was considered a beneficial substance

* with time, they started to develop medical conditions, as a direct consequence of their work with radium, because they were told there were no risks involved, and the technique they were taught was to put the brushes in their mouth, moisten them, dip them in the paint, paint, and then repeat

* after they started developing these medical conditions (horrifying, it was so difficult to read about them), they started a legal fight that lasted decades, in order to get compensation for their conditions and make the company pay legally for the harm it caused

* i cannot recommend this book enough

* the strength and power of these remarkable women, during a time when women were still struggling to get rights, is just... wow, i was in awe

* pls read this, but be warned - it's a difficult read

* 5/5 ⭐️

#books #booklr #book reviews #nonfiction #radium girls #kate moore #mary says stuff about

[belladonnaprice]

#music #radium girls #folk music

[drawnnnquartered]

“Undark/Notime” (2023), handprinted linocut on paper. This was for an alumni print exchange and the theme was Light and Darkness.

#printmaking #linocut #relief printmaking #undark #radium girls

[fresh-and-funky]

My Roman Empires

Indigenous Residential Schools

Radium Girls

Young Queen Elizabeth 1

vintage lesbian photos

#roman empire #my roman empire #vintage #lesbian #radium #radium girls #queen elizabeth i of england #princess elizabeth #indigenous history #indigenous residential schools

[charlpng]

you ever hear of the Radium Girls?

#radium girls #illustration #charlpng #horror art #radiation fans enjoy

[midnights-wish]

They sprinkled the luminous liquid in their hair to make their curls twinkle in the dark. They brightened their fingernails with it. One girl covered her teeth to give herself a Cheshire cat smile when she went home at night. None of them considered this behavior risky."

Deborah Blum, 'The Poisoner's Handbook' - about what some of the Radium Girls did with the self-luminous paint they worked with, as they didn't know what effect radium would have on them.

#booklr #book blog #deborah blum #the poisoners handbook #radium girls #radium #radioactive #self luminous paint #luminous #book quotes #quotes

[atrophyofc]

Started reading Radium Girls and honestly I feel so fucking bad because the company they worked for didn’t even disclose the warnings nor the health inspections results they went thru because the company knew it would damage them. Fucking capitalism at its prime. When the company figured out the disclosure basically stated that the girls was suffering from a minimal radium poisoning EVERY DAY (which in addition the reason why their symptoms appeared a year or two after their dial painting job) was DEATHLY. They stored away their results for an entire year while 3(maybe 4 or 5) has passed away from radium poisoning, with two of them suffering from radium jaw. I just don’t get it but then again of course, capitalism.

#radium girls

[do-you-know-this-play]

#radium girls #d.w. gregory #theater #theatre #plays #tumblr polls #i’ve read the book radium girls #this play was inspired by that book if i remember correctly #and the author of that book was inspired after she directed “these shining lives”

[brainssteww]

My love's a radium wristwatch,

Sparkling toxicity,

I swallow glowing dials,

He moves on to better things

#history #poetry #radium #radium girls #romance #heartbreak #historical fiction #historical poetry