COMS 624 LU Book Project Hidden Figures 2025.pdf

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Book Project: Hidden Figures

Jodi C. Goforth

School of Communication & the Arts, Liberty University

COMS 624: Intercultural Communication

Dr. Danny Román-Gloró

February 23, 2025

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Margot Lee Shetterly’s Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of

Christine Darden—who overcame systemic racism and gender discrimination at the National

Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) (formerly NACA) during the 1960s Space Race.

These women not only faced the challenge of computing complex flight trajectories but also

navigated the systemic racism and gender discrimination that permeated 1960s America. This

book review draws upon Intercultural Communication Theory to analyze their experiences,

applying concepts such as gender roles, collectivism, stereotyping, and Communication

NACA and society.

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Book Project: Hidden Figures

During the era in which the events within Margot Lee Shetterly’s Hidden Figures

than shouldering the seemingly impossible task of sending man to the moon. They also had to

bear the internal and systemic racism within NACA (today’s NASA) and American society in

general. During the 1960s, the country underwent several of the most significant events in its

history, including the Civil Rights era, the women’s rights movement, and the Space Race.

In her biography, Shetterly explores several notable cultural norms and attitudes,

including America’s attitudes toward African American women and the culture/environment the

The 1960s was a tumultuous period in American history. Iconic scholar Audre Lorde

writes, “The 60s were characterized by a heady belief in instantaneous solutions. They were vital

years of awakening, of pride, and of error” (1984, p. 136). The country watched John F.

Kennedy’s assassination live in 1963, the Vietnam War was shrouded in controversy, and a new

wave of radicalists emerged and continually challenged societal norms; conversely, it was also

the age of the hippies. As many social justice movements reached their pinnacles, their

approaches toward change became “militant” (“The 1960s,” 2020), meaning their methods to

incite change grew more aggressive to garner attention. Martin Luther King Jr. and Bobby

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Kennedy were also assassinated at the tail end of the decade, painting America in a grim light.

Finally, the Space Race profoundly impacted culture in nearly every facet, from cinema and

serving as “the final frontier for the United States and Soviet Union to compete to prove their

status as sole superpower” (Davis, 2024). This cultural context would have helped shape the

experiences of the four women.

Attitudes toward African American women in the 1960s could be described as a double

blow. Not only did they experience racial discrimination and segregation, but their gender further

organizations” (Joseph, n.d.). Gender roles, which Planned Parenthood defines as “how we’re

expected to act, speak, dress, groom, and conduct ourselves based upon our assigned sex”

(2025), also played a principal role in shaping a woman’s experience in America. Samovar

writes, “The learning of acceptable gender roles begins as soon as the announcement is made

proclaiming that a newborn is a boy or a girl” (2024, p. 72). The preceding decades had primed

American women to be homemakers, not professionals who sent men to the moon: “From the

start of the twentieth century to the early 1960s, with the exception of World War II when many

women replaced men in factories to support the war effort, most females were reared to be wives

and assume the roles associated with that position” (Samovar, 2024, p. 73). This added the

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pressures of sexism to the four women who were undoubtedly already experiencing immense

describes, much of the computing for the missions was performed by black employees. Though

NACA had been hiring white women since 1935, positions for black women did not become

available until 1943 to compensate for employee shortages during World War II (Ryerson,

2023). Nevertheless, Vaughan, Jackson, Johnson, and Darden’s roles in the success of the Space

Race cannot be understated. In her autobiography, Katherine Johnson writes, “We needed to be

assertive as women in those days—assertive and aggressive—and the degree to which we had to

struggles were amplified for the four women because they were consistently forced to prove their

worth and capabilities.

Famously, Katherine Johnson’s talent was finally recognized when she was first

commissioned to verify and “analyz[e] the flight trajectory for Alan Shepard’s Freedom 7

mission” (Ryerson, 2023), and then again the following year for John Glenn’s Friendship 7

mission, which provided her credibility and allowed her to stand on the frontlines of the Space

Race. Shetterly writes, “Their goal wasn't to stand out because of their differences; it was to fit in

because of their talents. Like the men they worked for, and the men they sent hurtling off into the

atmosphere, they were just doing their jobs” (2016, p. 259). Though their goal was merely to fit

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in among the others, each of the four women managed to subvert expectations and make names

for themselves.

describes collectivism as a culture in which “group interests take precedence over those of the

individual. In collective cultures, relationships form a rigid social framework that distinguishes

between in-groups and outgroups. People rely on their in-groups (e.g., family, tribe, clan,

organization) to look after them, and in exchange they believe they owe loyalty to that group

(2024, p. 186). These traits are evidenced in the black employees who worked for NACA.

Though Shetterly does not explicitly mention collectivism within NACA’s black

their personal achievements as not only benefiting themselves but the black community as a

whole: “They convened around the shared purpose of the advancement of women like them, and

to use their collective talents for the betterment of their community” (p. 243). Whereas much of

white American culture, especially within NACA, centered around individual accomplishment,

these women viewed their successes as opportunities to prove Black America was of worth and

While the historical context of Hidden Figures differs from contemporary society,

parallels remain. Women and minorities in STEM fields still encounter implicit biases, albeit in

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more subtle forms. One such obstacle is the persistence of stereotyping, or more specifically,

racial stereotyping. The Jim Crow Museum describes racial stereotyping as “constructed beliefs

attitudes toward African Americans formed during early American history, including the images

of Sambo, Jim Crow, the Savage, Mammy, Aunt Jemimah, Sapphire, and Jezebelle (Green,

2024). Though America has seen significant healing and progress since the results of the Civil

Rights movement, many stereotypes remain regarding the black community. One psychologist

describes this phenomenon: “Our brains want our expectations to be supported. . . . Because of

that reward engagement, we can start becoming addicted, in a way, to stereotyping” (qtd. in

accommodating styles to people in multiple contexts” (Usera, 2020). African Americans are

consistently expected to code-switch, shifting between African American Vernacular English

(AAVE) and Standard American English (SAE) depending on the audience. Barack Obama’s

presidency is a testament to this; he was known to code-switch according to the social

environment. Notably, a video of him went viral in 2012: “In the clip, viewers can see that

there’s a clear difference between how Obama greets a white assistant coach and how he greets

the black NBA player Kevin Durant” (McCluney et al., 2019). This video was an example of

how African Americans sometimes “‘switch’ how [they] greet people, depending on whether

they’re white or black” (McCluney et al., 2019).

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The presence of code-switching would have been amplified for the four women who

were forced to adhere to homogeneous societal expectations at NACA: “Against ignorance,

interactions that individual blacks had with whites could have implications for the entire black

community” (Shetterly, 2016, p. 134). If they presented themselves as anything different or

deviated from white societal norms, it would have both damaged their reputation and held them

back within the company.

A relevant comparison for Hidden Figures is the biblical story of Esther. Like Esther,

the time. One single verse aptly captures the stakes of her predicament: “Then I will go to the

king, though it is against the law, and if I perish, I perish” (Esther 4:16, English Standard

Version Bible, 2025). This passage showcases her bravery, mirroring that of the four women

who, against all odds, rose up and became luminaries within NACA during an immensely

oppressive period in American history.

Hidden Figures not only documents and celebrates the extraordinary careers of four

brilliant women who helped put humanity on the moon, but it also provides apt documentation of

the way in which 1960s culture shaped the lives of African American women. Surveying

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Shetterly’s work through the lens of Intercultural Communication Theory added context,

revealing that the culture they inhabited utilized gender roles, the presence of collectivism within

women lived in, they also demonstrate just how resilient and strong they were to overcome them.

Despite everything, these women still made their mark on the world, forever remembered as the

four brilliant African American women whose work put man on the moon.