Rosetta Scientist Matt Taylor Is Really Sorry About That Shirt

[n2doc]

Rosetta project scientist Matt Taylor is really sorry about the shirt. The researcher apologized Friday for wearing a shirt that caused a firestorm of criticism earlier this week because it was patterned with a bunch of half-naked women.



Asked during Friday's livestream for an update on how the research coming from Philae—the lander that successfully touched down on Comet 67P earlier this week—would compare to the data collected from Rosetta, Matt immediately launched into an apology for his wardrobe choice.

“The shirt I wore this week," he said, and started to choke up. “I made a big mistake and I’ve offended many people and I’m very sorry about this.”

He then took a moment to collect himself before answering the question.

The shirt in question sparked a heated debate about sexism in STEM fields after Rose Eveleth, a journalist at The Atlantic, tweeted a screengrab from the Rosetta livestream showing Matt wearing the offending bowling shirt, and stating, "No no women are toooootally welcome in our community, just ask the dude in this shirt."


more

http://api.digg.com/api/v3/redirect?url=http%3A%2F%2Fmotherboard.vice.com%2Fread%2Frosetta-scientist-matt-taylor-is-really-sorry-about-his-shirt&content_id=1sMxSfC

[Tsiyu]

1. watching a bit of the livestream before the landing

Last edited Sat Nov 15, 2014, 04:16 PM - Edit history (1)

I was struck by the fact I saw only one woman in a sea of men.

Apparently, women are still not welcome in the scientific fields.




On edit: the shirt was the most awesome shirt ever and every guy should buy one right now and wear it to work.


Please, men, don't crucify me or hang me by my toenails. Bad, bad me for making you cry and wail and gnash your teeth.

[pipi_k]

5. Yeah, fuck him!!!

And all the other misogynistic men, because they won't allow women to be astronauts, astrophysicists, meteorologists, chemists, etc.

Oh...wait...


http://discovermagazine.com/2002/nov/feat50/



Of course, there could have been other reasons for only one woman being there in a sea of men.

Like, oh...maybe some of the women were off doing other science-y things.

Or maybe they work a different shift.

Or, this being Flu season, they were sick. Or they're single moms with kids home sick from school.

A whole slew of possible reasons.


Really, it's interesting what people choose to see.

[Tsiyu]

6. I'm sorry, but I never really ever get what you're saying

but thanks for trying, anyway.

[dballance]

34. Yes, it does read like a poor attempt at sarcasm.

pipi_k doesn't seem to be as witty as he thinks he might be.

[Tsiyu]

42. You noticed that, too, huh? n/t

[uppityperson]

59. Single moms stay home with their sick kids but dads don't, or maybe just all the women were

working another shift or were busy elsewhere for some reason? Or the special Women's Only Flu struck?

Odd, isn't it.

[elehhhhna]

66. duh they were on their period

we all synch up.

[ismnotwasm]

7. Yes, isn't it.

[hfojvt]

29. the article you link leads off with this

"Three percent of tenured professors of physics in this country are women."

But really if women are being discouraged from STEM fields, that is happening at grade school, not at the college level. For whatever reason, women are CHOOSING to not major in physics or engineering.

It's not like that is some kind of conspiracy of male engineering students or something.

Like it is TAYLOR's fault - so fuck him!

Or what, he wore that shirt to class in Physics 101 and all the female students got mad and dropped the course.

[Tsiyu]

44. Would you wear a shirt that you know is offensive to your business

if you weren't required to wear a uniform?

If you would, you would deserve the scorn this guy is getting.

That's what it's all about.

Oh, well- that and the death threats the woman is getting, but don't worry your pretty little head over that.

[hfojvt]

86. Did that just the other day

wore a t-shirt for the woman running for the state legislature in my district. Some people, who support the other candidate, might find that offensive. Especially since I work for the taxpayers.

But since the election was over, and she lost, it was kind of a dead issue. And I wore it by accident. I was wearing it earlier, under a bunch of sweatshirts and neglected to change, thinking I was already wearing a work shirt under all those sweatshirts.

Problem is, you never really know what some people are going to find offensive.

Is "Wonder woman" offensive? One young lady I know, would not think so. She is a huge fan.

Some people get to dress casual where they work. Good for them, I say.

[JHB]

121. It's generally been trending upward, though there has been a dip since 2000

Graphs below from http://www.aps.org/programs/women/resources/statistics.cfm

Further resources on women in physics: http://www.aip.org/statistics/trends/gendertrends.html


Fraction of Bachelor’s Degrees Earned by Women, by Major (STEM fields)



Percentage of Women in Physics

[shenmue]

2. Go to Twitter and read the comments related to the shirt incident. Some people were very violent.

In particular, a "man" named Christopher Cantwell. Myself and I'm sure plenty of other people reported him. He repeatedly demanded that Rose Eveleth kill herself.

Enough is enough. Threats are not protected by the First Amendment. I hope Eveleth gets a really, really good lawyer and sues the shit out of these oafs.

[ismnotwasm]

3. Yeah

In real life I would have said something, made Fun of it, mostly because it's stupid-but a woman getting threatened on Twitter for expressing an opinion like this all to often gets threatened with violence. And that Cantwell guy is a MRA from AVFM.

[shenmue]

4. Yeah

Hopefully Twitter looks into the reports and bans a few of these assholes. And they'll try to come back, and get chased out again.

What gives me hope is that lots of women and lots of men too are retweeting these things with scalding rebukes, so more and more people will see how bad it is.

[Tsiyu]

8. What the hell is with the men who threaten women this way?

Are they kids? Just stupid?

I'll bet most of them are cowards in real life. I'd love one of them to try to terrorize me....the motherfucker would wish he was never born.

[shenmue]

9. Oh yeah

I'm sure you're right.

[Tsiyu]

10. I don't take no sheet...

Bunch of cowardly asswipes threatening women for speaking up? I hope all their penises fall off.....

[deaniac21]

21. I don't know how they

walk around with those things.

[Tsiyu]

24. the little boys who post these death threats never leave home

some of them are probably mild mannered in person, and only act out their fantasies when they think they can find a victim and threaten her with complete anonymity and impunity.

Some are just waaaay unevolved and they are open about who they are. I feel sorry for those types the most.

Anyhoo, they don't walk around is all I am getting at. Most are cowards who never leave Mommy's basement.

[BlueJazz]

17. Damn! "the motherfucker would wish he was never born."

I'm not laughing at you, just the scenario in my head.

"Who is that"
"Oh, that's Tsiyu, I know her pretty well...she's cool"
"I think I'll go over there and terrorize her"
"What!..are you fucking craaazy??"
"Why do you say that?"
"Look...man...take my word for it...I'm not even going to tell you what will happen but you know those guys you see on the street and they just look straight ahead with bloodshot eyes and mumble "Why oh why was I ever born??
"Ahhhh...yea..I've seen a few of them"
"THOSE are the dumb mother-fuckers that terrorized TsIyu!!?
"SHHHHIT!!!
"Yep...Don't mess with her..."

[Tsiyu]

18. My most badass son

had this to say:

I was going out one night to play music with friends. His buddy asked "Don't you worry about your mom being out alone on the road at night?"

"Hell no!" said my son. "I worry about anyone else who might run into HER at night!"

[noiretextatique]

20. this reminds me of a time i was in las vegas

my sisters and i used to meet our texas relatives there. so, we were out walking in downtown one night, maybe a group of 10 women, and some guy tells us: "you ladies be careful out here." this was back when you could carry guns on the plane, and ALL the texas women had guns in their purses...so five of the group were packing. so one of my cousins says: "mister THEY need to "watch out" for us." and she wasn't kidding.

[Tsiyu]

22. Now that is the start of a great movie

"The Day Those Ten Texans Took Over Vegas"

[noiretextatique]

31. LOL...don't mess with Texas

women. i grew up in California, but the Texas women taught me well

[Tsiyu]

37. I'm a little Yankee girl who was dragged to the South at 13

where Southerners promptly kicked my little Yankee ass and made me mean.

As one old Italian aunt said to me the last time I saw her in NY: "What happened to you? You used to be so sweet and shy."

[noiretextatique]

47. thankfully i am from a huge family

so when i visited Texas, my cousins handled the locals

[Tsiyu]

49. Yeah, in NY my male Italian cousins protected me, taught me how to ride my bike

but they would drive me crazy if they were down here.

I'm used to it now.

But I'm heading out of the South as soon as I can. It's been real. It's been fun.

But not real fun.

[bananas]

12. He's an asshole atheist - he even says it on his website

http://www.christophercantwell.com/

Christopher Cantwell
Anarchist, Atheist, Asshole

For those who aren't aware:

Atheism’s shocking woman problem: What’s behind the misogyny of Richard Dawkins and Sam Harris?
http://www.salon.com/2014/10/03/new_atheisms_troubling_misogyny_the_pompous_sexism_of_richard_dawkins_and_sam_harris_partner/

Richard Dawkins has lost it: ignorant sexism gives atheists a bad name
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/sep/18/richard-dawkins-sexist-atheists-bad-name

Will Misogyny Bring Down The Atheist Movement?
http://www.buzzfeed.com/markoppenheimer/will-misogyny-bring-down-the-atheist-movement

[shenmue]

15. I was an atheist for a few years

Most of the people were nice, when I was on the Internet board community, but a significant portion of the men, the ones in their 20s especially, started to get really weird. They would rant about how they hated their girlfriends, they wanted to kill someone because they were afraid of divorce, that kind of thing. I was weirded out by it. I'm no longer an atheist, and I'm sure not all atheists are wacked out like that, but it is a disturbing element, and I hope they deal with it. Not having a religion in your life is no reason to hate women.

[phil89]

57. I'm sure you're basing that on a large sample size.

And atheism is a rejection of a claim, any other behavior, attitudes or nonsense has nothing to do with it. "Atheism" has no dogma or commandments on how to live. It's a rejection of a claim, nothing more.

[shenmue]

72. I am. I knew hundreds of atheists back then

and there really was a serious problem.

See? Immediately people start telling me I don't know what I saw, I don't know what atheism means, and it can't have been as bad as I said- that patronizing attitude and the refusal to accept that there's a problem, is precisely what the issue is.

[AnalystInParadise]

126. Hundreds of atheists are a large sample size

Sure they are......SUUUUUUURE they are.

[SomethingFishy]

58. Being an Atheist means you don't believe in God at all. I believe you were an Agnostic.

Not having a religion is called Agnostic.

Sorry not trying to be a jerk, it's just that being an Atheist isn't something you just stop one day unless you happen across a burning bush or something

[shenmue]

70. You don't know what you're talking about.

Keep that bullshit to yourself. I meant exactly what I said, you don't know me and you have no business telling me I don't know what words mean.

[SomethingFishy]

120. Wow.. a little huffy.

Welcome to ignore.

[Cheap_Trick]

16. Yeah, it's not like christianity has a woman problem or anything

[nomorenomore08]

27. *Humanity* has a woman problem. That's what it comes down to, really. n/t

[DeadLetterOffice]

65. +1000

[shenmue]

107. That has nothing to do with this

And most denominations do ordain women.

[Orrex]

19. Funny that any high-profile atheist asshole is identified as a leader of atheism

But any high-profile Christian asshole is identified as non-representative of Christianity as a whole.

Cantwell, Dawkins and Harris certainly speak as atheists, but they have no authority to speak on behalf of atheists as a group.

Their misogyny and ignorant sexism shouldn't be blamed on atheism.

[font color="red"]Edited to add: that Guardian article about Dawkins' assholery is terrific![/font]

[nomorenomore08]

28. +1

[hfojvt]

36. I am sort of confused as to how

"Please kill yourself" becomes a threat.

Not a nice thing to say, but a threat? Really?

[Tsiyu]

46. When you can explain how a complaint about a shirt

riles a person with testicles up SOOOOO much he thinks she'd be better off dead.

[hfojvt]

84. How should I know what motivates other people that I don't even know?

He may not be riled up at all. Maybe he just likes saying mean and stupid crap to people he doesn't like to see if he can rile them up.

[shenmue]

71. He said it many times in a row.

Your lack of understanding is the problem.

[hfojvt]

83. so he is unoriginal and redundant

no matter how many times you say something that isn't a death threat, it does not suddenly morph into a death threat at what, the 4th repetition? the 6th?

[eppur_se_muova]

11. Compare and contrast ...

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-29357472

[Donald Ian Rankin]

14. From the small print:

Although we do not know for sure whether all the women in this picture are engineers or scientists, they all probably work with India's space agency. Some 20% of Isro's 14,246 employees are women and their numbers are growing.

[demmiblue]

13. I am glad he apologized, but, damn, it really put a damper on this exciting event.

Kind of like your little brother blowing out the candles on your birthday cake... still a wonderful day, but not as wonderful as it could have been. I know, I know- lame analogy.

[Niko]

23. This is why we can't have nice things

There's nothing wrong with the shirt and he had no reason to apologize for anything.

[AngryAmish]

25. The shirt is dirty.

[Tsiyu]

26. Is that shirt a "nice thing?" LOLOLOLOL

Wow, did you not hear that zinging noise as the clue went rocketing over your noggin?

Glad you didn't get hit!

Of course you should wear a NSFW shirt in front of the Queen and everybody on such a momentous occasion! I would have personally enjoyed it more had he worn a thong, some go-go boots and bunny ears, but durn if he didn't go with the naked woman's body parts look.

One giant leap for something.......

[Niko]

35. Are you kidding me?

Not safe for work?

It's a tacky shirt, sure.

But it's a bunch of CARTOON depictions of NOT NAKED women. I just keep looking at it, over and over again, not seeing what the big fucking deal is. What about his tattoos? No problems there? Shouldn't he have covered those up for such a momentous occasion?

This is an example of butthurt run amok.

[Tsiyu]

40. Context is a scary thing, I realize, but you can do this

A shirt with the Confederate Flag stamped all over it might be safe for your workplace, but would it be welcome anywhere where there are those offended by the shirt?

Would you wear a shirt brandishing KKK symbolism on it to a comet landing?

A shirt like his is tasteless, classless, and unless the man is a fucking moran - which he obviously isn't - he knows the shirt would be offensive to some people, notably women who already face a tough time in the science fields.

But never mind. Act all obtuse - because it really makes you look like that logical, deep thinker you wish to be.

[Niko]

45. Are you SERIOUSLY making those comparisons?

A shirt with cartoons of women in sexy clothing is akin to the KKK and the confederate flag?

Sorry, false analogies are not valid. I'm not saying the shirt isn't tasteless. But this is poutrage, plain and simple.

[Tsiyu]

50. To some people, yes they are easily equated

but you have yourself an awesome word there, so you just use that and that will explain everything away.

I love deep, deep thinkers like you.

Shallow as a cookie sheet but not nearly as useful.

[Niko]

52. Ok let's add number 237892307906 on list of things that are offensive:

Cartoon depictions of women in bikinis.

Good to know. One day we will all wear the plain gray unmarked jumpsuit, as is the case in most science fiction, lest anybody else have their sensitivities abashed.

[Tsiyu]

55. You poor thing

we have really hurt your feelings that are deep down inside over this shirt.

[irisblue]

88. Niko, how big is that shovel you're digging with?

cause deeper& deeper is a poor way to start out.

[PeteSelman]

30. The shirt is inappropriate in a professional setting.

Perfectly fine for leisure activities, not fine for work. Pretty simple really.

[nomorenomore08]

33. +1

[Niko]

38. That's bullshit and you know it

The butthurt over this shirt is the fact that it depicts women in scantly clad clothing. If he had worn faded ripped jeans and a T-shirt, you wouldn't be talking about it being "inappropriate in a professional setting". It wouldn't even get any attention. So let's not pretend.

[alarimer]

43. So fucking what if it is?

These guys (and you apparently) need to GROW THE FUCK UP. You cannot do or say or wear whatever the hell you please without consequence.

And in a workplace it is a no-no. Especially a public-facing job, as this was at least at this particular time. I think ripped t-shirts or jeans would be inappropriate in this occasion as well.

[Niko]

51. But that's not what this is about

People are going on about what's ON the shirt, not the unprofessionalism of wearing it. If he had been wearing a typical Hawaiian shirt with no subject matter, we wouldn't even be talking about this. So stop pretending.

[fishwax]

75. yeah, because *what's on the shirt* is what makes it particularly inappropriate

[gollygee]

78. It's inappropriate in a professional setting because it's sexist

If he wore a t-shirt that said, "Women belong in corsets, not in STEM" and ripped up jeans, you'd have a valid comparison.

[PeteSelman]

87. I'm not pretending anything.

Why do you feel the need to angrily defend the indefensible?

The guy was wrong. He has admitted it and apologized. End of story.

[fujiyama]

96. I agree and I am far from a corporate stooge

For example, I find shaving a drag and do so only sporadically (in an office environment where most men are clean shaven). But c'mon a few basics wouldn't hurt - would it really hurt someone to wear a fucking boring polo to work on a day when you'll be presented on TV? Or at the least a shirt that doesn't make you look like you're a daily frequenter of the local Hooters? I mean, he's in a public facing position, there are few women in STEM field and this guy is dressed like comic book guy? And note none of this is a knock on Hooters regulars or comic book store owners. I just don't get how anyone would find this appropriate for a work place.

As I said, I'm not a huge fan of strict dress codes (wearing Jeans during the work week doesn't strike me as a big deal) but I wish people would grow up just a little.

Meh. Rant off.

[hfojvt]

39. one of the great things about being very smart

is that most people don't care what you wear, only if you can solve the damned equations and the problems.

Funny how that works.

My physics and math professors were a bunch of slobs, in general.

[irisblue]

89. hfojvt, how many of your "slob" professors

chose to be "slobs" on historic occasions knowing that their images would be preserved speaking to millions on a really big deal. It was a very poor choice on his part, it was unprofessional, and he will be recalled as "oh yeah that guy in the tacky shirt".

[Niko]

112. BULLSHIT BULLSHIT BULLSHIT

I'm going to call every single one of you out.

Stop pretending it's about "professionalism". Just admit you're offended by the content of the shirt.

If he had been wearing an "I'm with stupid" T shirt, nobody would even be talking about this.

[irisblue]

116. RLY?

hehehehe....THIS is your counterpoint? hehehehehe, thanks I needed a laugh

[nomorenomore08]

125. Why so angry?

[Ykcutnek]

92. I applaud those who defy the arbitrary law of profressionalism.

[Reter]

110. Professors and scientists mostly are a little bit wackadoo

It likely fits his character.

[nomorenomore08]

32. It's not about a shirt, really. That's kind of a red herring.

It's about the lack of women in STEM fields and the attitudes which seem to reinforce that.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

53. I dunno, it probably is about the shirt as well.

Several decades back, I wore a Jimmy Buffett 'Fins' t-shirt to high school one day. And was sent home to change it, because it had a cartoon depiction of a woman in a bikini on the back, surrounded by sharks. (I had a dozen or more Buffett shirts, that just happened to be the only one with a woman on it.) Offhand, it was an order of magnitude less tacky than this guy's shirt, but I still was told not to wear it at school, and that was back in the 80s. (As a point of reference, that very same day, the guy in front of me had on a 'Bear Whiz Beer' shirt, with the back of a bear standing in front of a conveyor belt, with empty beer bottles on one side, and 'filled' ones on the other. He did not get sent home.)

My shirt was at least in line with the song lyrics, and no more 'prurient' than what you actually see on any given beach. This guy's shirt is deliberately designed with hypersexualized, if clad, images. So while the gender disparities are an issue, I think the shirt simply typifies that 'attitude' issue, and as such isn't really a 'red herring'.

[nomorenomore08]

122. I get that. I meant Matt Taylor's "defenders" focusing excessively on the shirt was a red herring.

Saying "It's just a t-shirt!" seems to almost willfully ignore the larger point about the status of women in certain career fields.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

124. Oh, I read your comment backwards then.

I thought you were talking about people against the shirt talking about the shirt.

[alarimer]

41. You are utterly clueless.

It is EXCEEDINGLY unprofessional. Unless you work in a strip joint.

[Niko]

48. Like I said to another one above, that's bullshit

You're pretending like it's NOT about the cartoon women in scantly clad clothing and it's just because it's "unprofessional".

Are his tattoos unprofessional too? Most workplaces would frown upon showing those off too. Don't pretend.

[Tsiyu]

54. Why does it bother you that people don't like the shirt?

As for tats, no problem as far as I am concerned, unless there is something offensive on a tat like a swastika.

But this guy knows the context in which he wore the shirt, and you do as well.

It just bothers you that many of us think it was a sorry ass joke on his part. His little fuck you went over like a lead balloon, because he made the event about himself. He knew there would be comments about that shirt. What a TOOL.

But it surely troubles you that we don't like that shirt.

Did you design it?

[Niko]

61. It bothers me that this guy had to apologize for it

I feel for the guy, I really do. He had nothing to apologize for and was put in this position simply because people can't get their heads out of the 19th century.

Again: They are cartoons. Not even naked cartoons. Has the culture really sunk this low? It may not have been professional. It may have been tacky. But sexist? Sorry. Nope.

[Tsiyu]

63. The culture has sunk this low:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025817161

The founder of A Voice for Men, Paul Elam, went on “ManStream Media” to discuss how women have forever ruined the workplace and ended the possibility of humanity ever doing anything “excellent” again.

“There’s just a different way that men do things with each other,” he said, “and it results in excellence. In civilization. In the aqueducts being built. To people landing on the moon and cures being found to disease.”

Elam offered as an example of such excellence what happens at a construction site when some “newbie comes in and accidentally pulls the trigger on the nail gun and plants one in his leg. They’re not going to rush around him crying, they’ll say, ‘That’ll teach his ass. When he comes back to the job, he won’t do that again.’ But they will get him medical care.”

“I’m sorry, ladies,” he continued, “but if we want society to advance, we need to leave men alone to do their work — to do their thing and be with each other to get things done. Because that’s how it works.”



I didn't see you in that thread, Niko, standing up for women.

But you'll cry bitter tears of sorrow over a goddamned dude who wore a crappy shirt?

Some days I only think I live in Bizzarro Land, and other days, people like you prove to me that I truly do.

[Jamastiene]

64. Methinks that poster doeth protest too much.

I think you are onto something.

That poster reminds me of the 9 year old boys who hate girls and make a clubhouse with No Girls Allowed signs all over it. So petty and childish and clueless.

[Tsiyu]

73. Yep

Sad and unnecessary to behave that way in frickin almost 2015, but there we are.


It's like whack-a-mole with the misogynists. Throughout history.


A few die off and another one goes over to reddit, reads TRP, and thinks he's got the answer as to why he doesn't have a dozen hot babes surrounding him letting him masturbate into them.

"It's not fair!" So he buys a shirt to show those you-know wuts!

Or he goes online to issue death threats to one of them, because, you know, all women are EEEBILLLL.

It's the same in Orthodox Judaism, Christianity, Islam. They all got the 'wymmin is eeebulll' paranoia. The truth is, they wanna do whatever the fuck they wanna do whenever they wanna do it, and they want wymmins to shut up so they kin git to it.

People who are intelligent, socially healthy and a benefit to their culture take into account their actions and the way they will be seen by others.

And people who are just selfish assholes don't.

They do whatever they wanna do whenever they wanna do it and tell you that you should be dead if you don't like it.

Yeehaw! Go science.

[SomethingFishy]

60. While the shirt is pretty awful...

I have not been able to surf the net today without seeing pictures of Kim K's ass in my face.

While the guy was an idiot for wearing it(and his fashion sense is awful) the outrage over the shirt is way way overblown. IMHO.

[customerserviceguy]

80. He's a geek

They're not especially well known as having any sort of fashion sense. In fact, that shirt is probably about the closest he's ever going to get to a semi-naked woman.

[BlueJazz]

62. I couldn't/wouldn't wear something like that but I understand why he would.

[k2qb3]

67. What's the point?

How is nagging some poor geek who wore the shirt a girlfriend made for him on what was probably the best day of his professional life going to do anything to get more women into the sciences?

Guy wore a tacky shirt and ended up having to make a public apology for it like he committed a crime or something.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

68. So the guy apologizes, DU is disappointed he didn't double down so the 2 minute hate could carry on

This place sometimes.

[LostInAnomie]

69. And, this thread is a perfect example of why it's pointlees to apologize...

... to internet outrage. It will do you no good. It will never be good enough no matter how sincere. People will still scream for your head and use you as a political football.

It was a fucking shirt.

[Tsiyu]

74. OFFS

Really?

The drama....has anyone actually in THIS THREAD called for the man's head on a platter? Where? Link please.

I can share links with you that are comments directed toward women that actually are violent, if you don't recognize the difference or the scale.

Really. Fashion critique is now life threatening for men? lol

[seabeyond]

85. I think most appreciate his apology. The argument are the men on this

Thread telling us how totally non offensive and appropriate it was for him to wear in a work environment. Not dissing on the man after the apology.

Rewriting what is actually happening in the thread says a hell of a lot too

[BlueStater]

76. This is the kind of story that makes this site look ridiculous.

Multiple threads tonight about a goddamn shirt? Seriously?

[pnwmom]

90. Sexual harassment in the workplace is a serious problem

and the ridiculous ones are those who don't realize that.

[Ykcutnek]

91. +1 On just about every site frequented by a lot of Millennials, it was not treated like a big deal.

It was made the butt of several jokes, but not some kind of social justice case/target of outrage.

People go on and on about how the left should attract young people...

Freaking out over a shirt is not the way to do it.

[Tsiyu]

95. Saying you don't like a shirt is not

'freaking out.'

YOU may be freaking out if you believe this thread will keep those millennials away.


but : Clog on...

[NaturalHigh]

77. And we care about this why?

Oh wait, that's right, most of us don't. It's just the Internet outrage machine churning again.

[christx30]

79. Most work places have dress codes

that employees must adhere to. If the shirt he was wearing was no big deal to his workplace, then I don't see a problem. I honestly don't care what he was wearing. He was part of a team that landed on a flippin' comet. I'm not going to call him out on his choice in clothes. He can wear a lime green unitard for all I care.
Yes, there is a problem with woman in the sciences. There needs to be a lot more. I tell my daughter all the time and I try to get her excited about space studies and all the science stuff I find on the internet.
But I'm not going to trash this guy because of his clothes. He and the rest of that team are rock stars in my house.

[Comrade Grumpy]

81. Oh, what an outrage.

[Liberal_in_LA]

82. what was he thinking? wearing that shirt to work.

[Violet_Crumble]

93. I accept his apology. It was an exceptionally ugly shirt...

All those bright, clashing colours. It's just not acceptable.

This one's slightly less garish, but still ugly, plus it's vintage Hawaiian shirt...

[True Blue Door]

94. Let's take time out of our celebrating an historic achievement by the entire species...

to have an ideological Inquisition about a guy's shirt.

This is Fauxminism, folks. This is the bullshit that allows otherwise sane people to be deceived by misogynists into believing feminism is insane.

[seabeyond]

97. I disagree with about every point of yours. Good for the people that spoke out.

Lesson learned. Good for the man apologizing. Lesson learned.

Lighten up dude. Your hysterical outrage over his apology brings back the mad men mentality.

You all seem to be the ones making the big deal out of this.

Work environment, appropriate dress is not a way out there concept.

[True Blue Door]

98. I agree it was inappropriate for the work environment.

That justifies an email to the European Space Agency HR department, not a worldwide internet freakout.

[seabeyond]

99. Then we all agree. You participated heavily in your "world wide outrage" as many others

With all your brouhaha thru out the thread. As a matter of fact I would say that the men being so fuggin' outraged over the man apologizing was probably the greater world wide outrage.

Gee, what would have happened when the first person said, hey... That shirt is really not work appropriate, and everyone said, yup. Not. The guy apologized and we all said lesson learned.

But nooooooo. You and so many other gave post after post ragging on feminists, telling women what they should think feel and speak out about or not speak out about ... Oh, and man after man telling us how the shirt doesn't bother them.

You think you might have a teensy part in your world wide outrage?

[True Blue Door]

100. Of course I'm part of the stupidity.

I can't take responsibility for everything, all the time.

Sometimes I just respond to other people.

On this issue, because it's not so important, I didn't feel like putting on my Leadership Hat. I just commented on what other people were doing.

[seabeyond]

101. It is not important to you, the man. It is important to women that live in this world.

We understand there are many men that lack the ability to comprehend the importance of this issue. Fortunately there are even more men, not to mention women, that recognize the importance of strong rules in the workforce to avoid hostile work environments for women.

Luckily for me, since being in the work force, I had male employers that wouldn't allow these behaviours and strived for a welcoming environment for all to work in.

[True Blue Door]

102. Neither of us represents half the species.

And the issue I'm talking about is one guy's shirt print, not the abstract category of sexism.

We agree it was inappropriate in the workplace. I disagree it's a matter of global importance.

And if you think his shirt was a bigger deal than his role in landing a probe on a comet, we definitely disagree on that.

[seabeyond]

104. Personally, I thought it played out well. He did stupid and apologized.

Wasn't even interested in this until hearing the same old tired men telling women how insignificant the issue and the man should shove the shirt in women's face.

In other worlds, the big deal came from the ugliness of men's reaction to the whole to do.

[True Blue Door]

105. Disagreeing with the priority you place on the subject is "ugliness"?

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

118. You gotta love the people who are name calling the guy in this thread

"Nerd can't get a woman!!! Har Har!!!"

He helped fucking land a billion dollar piece of equipment on a speeding comet. Most of the repliers probably fail at parallel parking.

[6000eliot]

103. Goodbye to threads about this ridiculous non-controversy.

[IdaBriggs]

106. And women wonder why men don't see the problems we face.

Geek guy wears wildly "not appropriate for work" shirt at historic press conference. Team holding press conference is lacking in representation of Half the Species except on his shirt where they are posed in scanty clothes and sexy stances. A female scientist comments on the irony of "no women except imaginary sexy ones on shirt" in social media and receives death threats.

Non-controversy? Only because people think this is normal.

Which is why some people think it should be discussed.

If the Internet was older, I can picture the posts --

"A black guy drinking from a whites only drinking fountain? Sounds like someone trying to start a controversy over nothing just to get some attention."

[Niko]

113. Completely false and actually offensive analogy

You want to talk about offending people? How about comparing this with the oppression of African Americans through institutional racism?

A bunch of cartoons of not naked women created by a woman as a gift for her friend does not qualify.

[Shankapotomus]

109. If it's a sexist shirt

I'm curious to understand why it wouldn't be inappropriate outside the work environment as well.

I would agree, at the very least, it is inappropriate for work. But we see these kinds of images outside of work too on billboards, at beaches, everywhere. In many cases women are electing to dress this way by choice. What should be our assessment in those situations?

If the general line of thinking is women are not being sexually suggestive when they elect to wear that kind of clothing themselves, why do we assume a shirt with women wearing bikini's is about sex or sexism? Why can't we just say "That's just what some women wear."?

The problem is when we see women in bikinis we see gender exploitation some of the time but not all of the time. The sexual suggestion is not in the bikini itself. It's in us. It's what some people are looking for. If you're not looking for it, a woman could stand completely naked in front of you and there would be nothing sexual or sexist about it. That's just the way women look.

[Niko]

111. It's not a sexist shirt. Not in the slightest.

And what's even worse about this is that a friend of his, a woman, designed the shirt for him as a gift.

The professional Internet outrage brigade will have none of it, though.

[Tsiyu]

119. It is so sad people did not like the shirt

they should go die





Does that make it all better?

[Matariki]

117. I'm glad he apologized and apologized for real

He sounded genuinely sorry - none of that 'sorry you were offended' BS. I hope he's really grokked how what seemed, no doubt, like a playful and innocent fashion choice was actually hurtful to his female colleagues.

[candelista]

127. This is what makes radical feminism look ridiculous.

No philosophical sense of proportion. Any excuse to be offended, by any perceived slight, however small, on any occasion, even when it is the celebration of a great scientific achievement.

[Matariki]

128. Do you really think it's "radical"

for women to object to their male colleagues wearing clothes covered in naked women? Do you think that was professional of him? An appropriate way to represent the organization he works for?

I wonder if you really are having a difficult time grasping such a simple thing or you are just trying to stir shit in a thread that is months old with provocative cliches like "radical feminism"

[candelista]

129. "Naked women"?

Here is a photo of Dr. Taylor's shirt. Do you see any naked women portrayed on it?




If you have to make up stuff to justify your position, you don't have much of a position.