Within the history of science, three generations of scholarship now demonstrate that women have consistently contributed to natural philosophy, science, and medical practice since at least the sixteenth century. Yet both popular and even some scholarly narratives continue to present women scientists as “forgotten” or “hidden” figures. While by no means diminishing the vital work of recovering women’s histories, I argue for a shift in how we talk about women in the history of science. On the one hand, by reinforcing the idea that women are perpetual newcomers to the sciences, stories that frame women scientists as surprising rediscoveries who were ahead of their time suggest that women are not a natural fit in scientific communities. On the other hand, such accounts implicitly reinforce a progressive view of history, leading some to see barriers to women’s participation in the sciences as problems of “the bad old days.” In this talk, using examples from the history of science in Europe and North America, I explore how we can tell histories of women in science that matter-of-factly expand our understanding of their contributions while also recognizing that other scientists (and some historians) have perceived women as unnatural and unwelcome, subjected them to cyclical waves of exclusion, and minimized their roles during their lives as well as after their deaths.