Science it's a girl thing

[Miss Chicken]

This commercial by the European Union, which is meant to encouraged girls into a science career, has been receiving a lot of criticism

here is the commercial

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g032MPrSjFA&feature=related[/yt]

and this second video, astronomer Dr Meghan Gray gives her opinion on the commercial

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3eZQHwGQE0[/yt]

Your opinions?

 

[Amaris]

My opinion is that it can only lead to better things:

Seriously, though, it only took a picosecond for my brain to send a command to my nervous system, telling it to find my hot babe scientist image macro. I don't think that's the reaction they want.

 

[Miss Chicken]

That would be a way to encourage boys, not girls, into science.

 

[Gov Kodos]

This thread bomb was better than that thing, and much more to the point in more ways than that video. http://www.trekbbs.com/showpost.php?p=6505000&postcount=3826

 

[YellowSubmarine]

Elon Musk said that permanent space settlement is equally important as lipstick. Good to see that EU got his message and are now trying to hook women scientists on lipstick.

 

[Gov Kodos]

The point at the outset did show that men will notice them. Science, the newest fashion accessory.

 

[Miss Chicken]

One woman's reaction to the commercial

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vyAWyAUHpI[/yt]

 

[Amaris]

That would be a way to encourage boys, not girls, into science.

Exactly. It reminds me of the old commercials where women who were professionals in the workplace still had to keep up appearances, lest they disappoint their male coworkers. They weren't taken seriously. I don't think the ad takes female scientists seriously.

 

[MacLeod]

Doesn't the EU have more important things to spent my taxes on this.

This is the 21st century, both genders are fully capable of doing any job. Are we going to get ads to engourge boys into female dominated fields of work?

 

[Trekker4747]

It's a rather dumb and vapid ad, and I'm really not sure how it intended to sell the idea of science being an avenue for girls to pursue.

 

[iguana_tonante]

I saw it yesterday, and it's dumb as hell. Not to mention, deeply disrespectful to women. So girls are going to be interested in science only if you dress it up with fashion, make-up, and glamour? I mean, it's not like they are going into science because, you know, they are smart, and curious, and want to know how the world works. That is men's stuff. Gah.

My female co-workers rolled their eyes at it.

 

[MacLeod]

Another Epic success from the auspicious EU then.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

Ugh. So they think making science look like a glamor video will attract women to it? Women are just too unintelligent to actually be interested in science, so we have to sex it up and dumb it down, huh?

 

[trekkiedane]

Are we going to get ads to engourge boys into female dominated fields of work?

They have been doing that for years; in the eighties we had the big debate about the missing male role-models for kids in day-care which led to campaigns directed towards men.
As I remember those, they were as stereotypical as this one: men playing football with kids, using tools to build stuff, getting dirty in the playground (as if boys were the only ones doing that )...

 

[YellowSubmarine]

Hey, I bet that even porn producers would do a better job at this.

 

[Spot's Meow]

Are we going to get ads to engourge boys into female dominated fields of work?

 

[iguana_tonante]

Wait, I'm getting strangely interested in sorting files and bringing cups of coffee.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

On Cardassia, science really IS a girl thing...

 

[thestrangequark]

I don't think the ad is that bad. It's not great, but it's not horrid either. I think there are a couple of things going on here that are causing the extreme negative reaction: first, people are going along with the stereotype that fashion and glamor aren't compatible with intellect, depth, or feminism. Why is appealing to girls' love of fashion so bad? (Mind you, the image the fashion industry conveys of women and it's positive/negative effect on girls is another argument.) I like fashion and make up and doing my nails in wild colors. That doesn't make me any less intelligent, and frankly, the pleasure I get from artistic expression through fashion is just as important to me as the intellectual pleasure I get from pondering a thought experiment, or reading the latest issue of SciAm. The second thing I see happening is the deeply ingrained idea that one can't be feminine and a scientist. This is still a pervasive idea in our culture. For a perfect example, see "The Big Bang Theory" -- you've got a bunch of nerdy, brilliant, male scientists....and a hot chick. As much as I like the show (and the main female character), it doesn't do much to portray a positive image of women in science. The hot chick knows nothing about science, and the female scientists are presented as frumpy and less attractive. These female stereotypes are rampant in our entertainment, and particularly in entertainment aimed at tween and teen girls.

It's fine to be a hot chick who's uninterested in science, and it's fine to be a frumpy female scientist, but why can't a woman be both girly and intellectual? And while the enlightened response on the board is certain to be, "Of course a woman can be both!" the point I am making is that that is not the message sent to girls. With a few rare exceptions, the old message that pretty and girly=dumb and intellectual and science-minded=ugly/frumpy. Maybe this ad goes about it the wrong way, but there is a hell of a lot of validity in showing girls that to be interested in maths and sciences doesn't mean a girl has to give up her femininity.

 

[Showdown]

Personally, I think it extremely stupid and laughably ineffective. I found this... and it took the words right out of my mouth.

http://blogs.wsj.com/juggle/2012/06/23/science-its-a-girl-thing-campaign-backfires/

Holy Cow! After avoiding it for days, I finally broke down and saw this travesty. How does it rot? Let me count the ways. Young girls have enough trouble dealing with the fact that they don’t look like skinny, long legged, zit free models with perfect hair. They don’t need this on top of magazines, TV, and movies. And those shoes? They’re an invitation to a scientific career as a patient in an orthopedics ward. How about the Lolita imagery of the glasses and the pouting, sucking lips? Yep, that’s just what every parent wants his 12 year old future scientist daughter to internalize.

This unspeakable piece of trash is not just sexist; it’s intellectually harmful to both sexes and all ages. One of the most pernicious educational fallacies is that learning has to be fun, fun, fun. All those bubbling retorts, flashing lights, and billowing gases send the message that science is one nonstop entertainment. Well science may be fascinating, but it asks a lot of anyone who studies it, including patience, hard work, and a high tolerance for math. It’s no service to girls or to boys to portray a scientific career as a romp through a 1980′s music video. I kept expecting George Michael to pop up singing “Freedom.” Good grief, if you’re going to be tacky, can’t you at least be current? No wonder the Euro’s in trouble!