Why “PINKIFYING” Science Does More Harm Than Good

[seabeyond]

It’s a tough fight, trying to keep girls and women interested in and doing science. So it’s extremely sad when a well meaning campaign makes the entire scientific community sick to its collective stomach. I present to you: “Science, it’s a Girl Thing!” And here is the teaser video, in all its glory…

Elyse sums it up quite nicely if you can’t stand to watch the whole thing:

SCIENCE: Where preteen girls can celebrate sexualization by much older men!
SCIENCE: It’s how to meet a sugar daddy!
SCIENCE: Because someone out there has a nerd glasses fetish.

*

I don’t say “teaser” lightly, you see. In fact, if the women in this video actually did a strip tease out of their lab coats for their male colleague, it would have fit right in. Apparently, women stomp into the lab with impractically high heels, short skirts, trendy hair, and give sexy looks to the hot guy in the lab. Oh, and they are spilling makeup and lipstick everywhere. I’m pretty sure my chemistry professor would have immediately kicked out anyone contaminating their lab space with so much powder, and I’d be pretty pissed at anyone who dares come near my telescope with a tube of lipstick.

So there’s lots of make-up, sexiness, pop music, typical “girl” things that are so cliche that I can’t even begin to get into it… and… where’s the science? Oh right, there are pretty liquids bubbling and making smoke. Yes, I get it. I use dry ice to entertain a crowd, too, but then I actually teach them some science. But apparently bubbly things MEAN science! Hydrogen! Giggles! Writing equations on a uselessly clear board! Strike a pose! Yeah, that’s exactly what we do in the lab all day. It’s amazing that any male scientist can ever get any work done with us strutting around like that!

Clearly, they got the image wrong, wrong, wrong. It is, as Sharon Hill, a real-life geologist, puts it, “as if Disney channel male execs do “science Barbie”.” I am not of the Disney Channel generation, so maybe I’m missing something in thinking that this kind of campaign is absolutely revolting.

Or, maybe not.

[eridani]

1. Yuck!!

Very seriously stupid. But since I retired, I'm wearing perfume again. When I was working, the people in the volatiles analysis lab raised holy hell when anyone walked by the door wearing any kind of a scent.

A geeky approach to perfume might have been fun, though. Breaking down the scent profiles of perfumes (and many other commercial products) is an art as much as a science. There are analytical systems that have mass spectroscopy detectors, flame ionization detectors, and a line teeing off where a real expert actually smells the analytes as they come by and makes time annotated notes about the scents. This is combined with data from the other detectors.

[longship]

2. Plus the worst, The Big Bang Theory.

Whose portrayals are that scientists are mostly guys with sophomoric senses of humor and no social graces. Women scientists are plain and undesirable.

I despise that program. It does more to malign what science is and who scientists are than anything else in culture. And it is not kind to women.

Fuck all these stereotypes. Especially those that minimize women's contributions to science.

[eppur_se_muova]

6. Hollywood's version of science is as stunted as its version of ... well, everything. nt

[MadrasT]

3. That is... disgusting.

Jesus H. Rollerblading Christ.

And I'll say it again: Fuck pink.

FUCK I AM SO GODDAMN TIRED OF THE ABSURD "FEMININE" STEREOTYPES FLYING AROUND.

[sufrommich]

4. That's just sad.

Who thinks of this crap? Better yet who looks at something like this and thinks "oh yeah, that's a good message to send."

[seabeyond]

5. "oh yeah, that's a good message to send."

lmfao... ya. what. a bunch of middle aged men on madison ave???? lol

[laconicsax]

7. Nice video response from a working scientist.

[seabeyond]

8. interesting. look at you finding this. for a scientist

i dont think she argued it real well, lol. but, that is ok.

[Vanje]

9. I work in "Science".

We do not wear stiletto heels in Bacterial DNA laboratory.

[seabeyond]

10. no? cue surprise.

lol.

good to know.

[laconicsax]

11. Well...maybe you should.