Science: it’s a girl thing
Over the past few weeks there has been a lot of criticism about how science is being marketed to girls. The Telegraph writes:
Science ‘girl thing’ video branded offensive
A film using images of lipstick, killer heels and a handsome male laboratory worker to encourage women to pursue science careers has been condemned as sexist and demeaning.
Watch the ad below:
And compare it to this gem of an advert:
Science: it’s a girl thing,
As a female scientist (and generally as a human being), I thoroughly agree that the above video was one great big train crash of offensive, patronising sexism. However, to be fair, that video, which has since been withdrawn, was only a teaser to accompany the launch of the campaign. The actual content of the campaign is pretty good. They’ve created a series a video profiles of different female scientists. They talk about what inspired them to get into science, their career paths and what their day-to-day work lives are like.
http://science-girl-thing.eu/profiles-of-women-in-science
Even better, the EU Commission have responded to the Twitter-rage by creating the list RealWomenInScience so they can continue to listen to us.