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brown wooden hair brush beside white round pate on brown wooden table
brown wooden hair brush beside white round pate on brown wooden table
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SBU | Culture

Invisible Women

Morgan Kilger Student Contributor, St. Bonaventure University
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at SBU chapter and does not reflect the views of Her Campus.

Did you know a woman invented the windshield wiper? You can thank Mary Anderson for keeping the rain from impairing your driving. And for my fellow Western New York natives, the windshield wiper was invented in Buffalo, New York. 

There are countless inventions by women that go unnoticed. Things like the car heater (Margaret A Wilcox, 1893), the Life Raft (Maria Beasley, 1882), and the Medical Syringe (Letitia Geer, 1899) were all invented by women. 

Even the game of Monopoly was invented by a woman, her name was Elizabeth Magie Phillips. 

The thing is, with women who invent things that are still around today, they often go unnoticed. It’s important that we recognize the women who invented the things we use every day. 

Imagine if those women didn’t have the drive for their inventions. If they didn’t, then we wouldn’t have many of the things that we have in the 21st century. You wouldn’t have the WiFi to read this article or be able to store food in a refrigerator because you wouldn’t have one. 

Our police forces wouldn’t have the Kevlar for their bulletproof vests. Grocery stores wouldn’t have the option for paper bags. You would be cold in the winter months without central heating. 

The 21st century would look a lot different without these brilliant women. 

It’s easy to look over these women’s inventions. They are things that have been part of our entire lives. But why are they overlooked?

When it comes to Women’s History Month, women who led movements are the front-runners. There’s nothing wrong with these women being the front-runners, don’t get me wrong. They should be. 

Shoutout Seneca Falls, New York.

But the women inventors are close to the bottom of this list. They are overshadowed by every other woman who is celebrated during Women’s History Month and the men who refuse to acknowledge their existence. 

Acknowledge their existence. 

Think about them when you brush your hair or turn on your central heating. Think about them when you turn your windshield wipers on and play a friendly game of Monopoly. Sure, there are men listed on the majority of the inventor credits for some of the items. But don’t forget about the women who helped them create the objects we have now. 

If you think about it, you are directly supporting women by using these inventions. You are supporting their ideas and creations. 

You are the true example of women supporting women.

Morgan Kilger

SBU '26

Morgan is a second-year writer and co-social media chair for St. Bonaventure University’s chapter of Her Campus, and is very excited to continue writing about what she is passionate about. This includes: mental health, pop culture, academic tips, and life experiences. She is also excited to be part of the executive board this year and help bring HCSBU to life on social media.

Outside of Her Campus, you can find Morgan as Communications Officer for SBU College Democrats, a student ambassador, and dancing with the SBU Dance Team. As for her studies, she is a senior history and women’s studies double major with a political science minor. Morgan aspires to work in a museum or university archive.

In her free time, Morgan enjoys being herself with her loved ones. Whether it’s watching Riverdale with her roommates or taking post-dinner trips to Wendy’s, she loves to spend time with her friends. She’s also working through her “to be read” list before she graduates, which is pages upon pages long (every pun intended).