In case you’ve been living under a rock in past weeks a British scientist by the name of Dr Matt Taylor landed in a world of hurt because the shirt he wore at a media conference offended some feminists. Dr Taylor is part of a team that had just managed to land a spacecraft on a comet.
In a breathtaking display of pettiness and vindictiveness a number of feminists targeted him for abuse and harassment eventually leading to an emotional apology by Dr Taylor for hurting their feelings via his choice of clothing. Said feminists claimed that Dr Taylor’s shirt embodied rampant sexism within the STEM field of professions, that was in turn instrumental in discouraging women from entering this sphere of endeavour.
Even on my very best day, I could not have summed up the debate any better than did Janet Bloomfield in her blog post entitled “It’s not advanced math and rigorous training that keeps women out of STEM. It’s sexist shirts. Watch feminists break the stupid meter“. Read it and weep.
See also:
Robyn Urback: Feminists reinforce their worst stereotypes by making a scandal of Rosetta scientist’s ‘sexist’ shirt (18 November 2014)
Back off #shirtstorm scientist, supporters say (18 November 2014)
How to Turn a Cool Moment Into a #ShirtStorm by Cathy Young (17 November 2014)
A Giant Leap Backwards for Womankind (17 November 2014)
Boris Johnson: Philae scientist deserves applause, not criticism over a garish shirt (16 November 2014)
“I watched that clip of Dr. Taylor’s apology – at the moment of his supreme professional triumph – and I felt the red mist come down. It was like something from the show trials of Stalin, or from the sobbing testimony of the enemies of Kim Il-sung, before they were taken away and shot. It was like a scene from Mao’s cultural revolution when weeping intellectuals were forced to confess their crimes against the people.”
Interstellar patriarchy: Protecting women everywhere from shirts! (13 November 2014)
I don’t care if you landed a spacecraft on a comet, your shirt is sexist and ostracizing (13 November 2014)
Brilliant anti-feminist spoof claims space scientist’s shirt is ‘sexist’ (15 November 2014) NB: This link is not working now – am awaiting advice from Breitbart on this matter)
Techno/Science Geeks Should Not be Made to Cry (15 November 2014)
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Other posts in this blog most closely related to this topic:
Less than 50/50 representation does not automatically imply ‘gender bias’
Beware the ire of an angry feminist
