In "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!", there's an essay entitled "You Just Ask Them?" in which Feynman relates some truly hair-raising (in a bad way) stories about his interactions with and attitudes towards women. A quick Google search will bring up plenty of commentary on the essay, from a variety of perspectives (some of which, unfortunately, seem to view the essay as inspirational and validating, rather than as alarming).
If you haven't read "Surely You're Joking...", you absolutely should- most of the essays are not hair-raising in a bad way, and as a whole it's a wonderful collection. Furthermore, as abhorrent as I find "You Just Ask Them", I think that if one is interested in learning about Richard Feynman, one should learn about him as a complete (and very flawed) individual. The (very ugly) aspect of his personality reflected in "You Just Ask Him" was just as real as the aspect of his personality that (as reported in the original linked article) was able to connect well with a female student who had felt ignored or belittled by other physicists.
For me, that contradictory nature is part of why I find Feynman to be such an interesting historical figure.
If you haven't read "Surely You're Joking...", you absolutely should- most of the essays are not hair-raising in a bad way, and as a whole it's a wonderful collection. Furthermore, as abhorrent as I find "You Just Ask Them", I think that if one is interested in learning about Richard Feynman, one should learn about him as a complete (and very flawed) individual. The (very ugly) aspect of his personality reflected in "You Just Ask Him" was just as real as the aspect of his personality that (as reported in the original linked article) was able to connect well with a female student who had felt ignored or belittled by other physicists.
For me, that contradictory nature is part of why I find Feynman to be such an interesting historical figure.