General News Stupid Shirt Ruins Comet Landing, Apparently

I think its all a bit over the top. They talk about how the shirt is covered in "half-naked" women, but there is only 1 image of a woman on there that could be described as "half-naked", the other images of women all show them wearing long dresses, comparable to what you would see at a classy ballroom party. and as for the "half-naked" ones, thats nothing worse than you'd see in Vegas.

Last time I checked, ballroom dresses didn't "objectify" women, but then again, everything is "objectifying" these days. She eats a slice of cake in a public café, shes a sex object. She walks into a bank, shes oppressed. She sneezes, shes a victim of abuse.

The Feminism in this case is over the top, although the argument "Its just a shirt." is valid, its what is printed on the shirt that matters, and in this case...Fuck all is printed on the shirt. Feminists trying to make a situation out of nothing. If these Feminists think a ballroom dress is "Slutty" or "Objectifying", they'd need to wrap themselves in 8 rolls of rubber wallpaper so nobody can see their skin...and hopefully so they suffocate...

Case closed, man is not a rampaging misogynist because he wore a pretty shirt.

 

Why people would care about something so insignificant when scientific history is being made is beyond me.

 

Oh, who cares? It isn't like it 'ruined' anything.

 

What, did the shirt prevent the probe from landing?

 

Storm in a teacup. Especially the commentators suggesting he is the very reason women don't go for these jobs as the shirt promotes misogyny/rape culture/domestic violence or whatever.

I could just as easily state the shirt "promotes a heterosexual norm" and is thus putting off gay people from entering the industry....but I won't. Why? Because 1) I'm not an over-sensitive moron always looking to be a victim, and 2) It just isn't.

At the end of the day you have to accept that these STEM industries attract people who you might consider to be "geeks", who may be quirky (just like Einstein was) or be so devoted to their work that they don't care about fashion or looking a bit silly. I think there is a rather sinister undercurrent in the feminist discussion about making the career more "glamorous" to appeal to women. If you read between the lines what they are essentially saying is "women are put off because there are geeky people working there, and so we need to hide them out of sight or make them look/act/behave less geeky to make women more comfortable".

Now onto the shirt itself. Hideous (although I do like the colours!). They clearly have an open dress policy and whilst not to my taste, the shirt isn't really sexist as its not promoting women in a negative light (and isn't an opinion to the contrary "slut shaming"?). Its a sci-fi themed shirt being worn at a space station - probably more fitting than most lines of work! If he had a shirt stating "I hate women" or "Men are better than women" then I'd definitely understand the outrage. As it stands, nope.

I am actually saddened to see him in tears apologizing, I think he is now the victim here. He contributed to something great but was instead turned into the devil incarnate by online lynch mobs for wearing a shirt given to him by a woman.

 

Oh god, feminazi's got to him.

 

I think it would be patronising for her to be picked not because of her amazing intellect but more due to her being a woman and not wearing a funny shirt. Where do we decide to draw the line. Should STEM industries only have female spokespersons moving forward?

I don't get this "inspiring to young girls" argument. Many people are successful in their careers despite not having cookie-cutter role models in the field that completely mirror their background (hell some have no role models and are just true innovators). Why should inspiration be limited to seeing someone exactly like you? Can men not be inspired by women? White people by black people? Straight people by gay people? Or vice versa? I myself find Claudette Colvin incredibly inspiring yet am not a straight, black female.

If feminism is so concerned with providing same-gender role models why has there been so little discussion on how this is not being done for young boys in school (as the vast majority of early years teachers are female) - surely on that logic this would be "putting boys off education"? Or is it just brushed under the carpet as it now gives girls an advantage?

Ultimately I think it is unfair and innacurate for this one guy to be scapegoated by the media as the "reason" many women don't go into STEM work, purely because he wore a stupid shirt one day. If people are that easily offended, then perhaps such a demanding position isn't for them anyway.

 

Same, actually.

 

Totally agree with this.

 

A huge scientific accomplishment is made and all anyone cares about is the shirt, this is why I hate social media

 

One day last week before I went to work, some woman on a news program was talking about a Kim Kardashian picture and some Honey Boo Boo controversy, and a male news anchor commented with something about "Uh, they just landed on a comet. Hello?" implying why the heck are they even covering those stories.

 

It's a shirt.

 

As a feminist, I wonder when we can please be concerned about something of actual consequence, like discrimination and harassment in the technology sector.

 

Feels like some people trying to make something big out of nothing. Some people wear things not because they are trying to make a statement. They just wear whatever is available for them.

 

This.

I don't care about his shirt at all. Not one bit. It is 100% an overreaction; he should not have even had to apologize. People are so obsessed with meaningless shit that doesn't matter that they have completely lost sight of the big picture and the real issues. Some people thrive off making mountains out of molehills.

 

I totally agree with this part. THIS is what feminists should be looking at and getting angry at over, if anything. This part actually says something, and it doesn't say it about the guy who landed the comet, it says something about the reporters. The reporters who had the option to interview a very successful woman, and chose not to. The people who have the power of representation. I think if they had gone with the choice, not only would we just be looking at the monumental achievement, but we'd also see the greatness that this woman did. THAT would be a step towards feminism.