That’s not just one small shirt

With the events of last week, I vote we officially retire the old mantra, “We can put a man on the moon, but we can’t…” and replace it with “We can land a spacecraft on a comet, but we can’t….” I’ll get the ball rolling: We can land a spacecraft on a comet, but we can’t encourage equality in STEM fields?

Shortly after the European Space Agency landed its Philae spacecraft on a comet more than 300 million miles away, the scientists involved hosted a press conference to announce their achievement that had been more than 10 years in the making.

For the most part, the announcement was received with a great deal of excitement. However, some people quickly noticed a particular fashion choice of an involved scientist.

Matt Taylor, project scientist at the European Space Agency, donned a shirt patterned with sexy, seminude cartoon women, confirming the objectified view that permeates many STEM fields. He might as well have worn a “Cool story, babe, now go make me a sandwich” shirt.

Though he first tried to excuse the controversy by letting everyone know a close female friend made it for him, Taylor eventually apologized, calling the shirt “a big mistake,” according to BBC News.

Apology aside, feminists have criticized his sexist clothing choice, paving the way for anti-feminists to criticize them in return.

“I don’t care what scientists wear. But a shirt featuring women in lingerie isn’t appropriate for a broadcast if you care about women in STEM,” astrophysicist Katie Mack tweeted shortly after the broadcast, serving as just one example of the type of criticism Taylor faced.

Some, such as Glenn Reynolds of USA Today and Nick Gillespie of Reason, asserted that the criticism about Taylor’s shirt detracted from the “years of effort” and work put into such a monumental success. But, hey, believe it or not, people are capable of praising an accomplishment while also pointing out the flaws in its presentation.

Reynolds and Gillespie, among many others, tried to call those criticizing Taylor’s shirt hypocritical. Evidently, some feminists advocating women’s rights to wear what they want (within reason) without criticism or shame somehow translates into the right for men to display downright harmful and objectifying material on their own clothes.

But there is a fundamental difference between a woman choosing to wear a short skirt and a man wearing something that borders on ecchi (the anime style with all the big boobs and panty shots).

In terms of sexual harassment in the workplace, there are two major types. One of which entails a “hostile work environment,” most often characterized by sexist attitudes and atmospheres that make it difficult for women to feel comfortable at their jobs.

One of the most common examples is that of a co-worker who hangs up nude or seminude photos of women in his office space—or, you know, wears them on his T-shirt. The images condone the objectification of women and suggest a “boys’ club” atmosphere in what should be a professional work environment.

So when Taylor, someone who works in a field that continues to lack proportional representation of women, wears a shirt laden with half-naked women during an international press conference, he is further demonstrating just how scientists view women.

Sexist shirt apologists seem to be under the impression that the shirt is harmful because it offends women.

“It seems to me that if you care about women in STEM, maybe you shouldn’t want to communicate the notion that they’re so delicate that they can’t handle pictures of comic-book women,” Reynolds wrote.

That it offends only makes up for a small bit of why Taylor’s shirt caused a stir. In actuality, it agitated people because it expressed and represented a lack of concern for how the space agency views and portrays women.

It’s not that women can’t handle these images; in fact, they are bombarded with them constantly and in every outlet of the media.

It’s unfortunate that Taylor’s choice of clothing had to tarnish such a tremendous victory for the rest of his team. Let’s hope we can learn from this by the time we put people on Mars. If not, we might expect a sexy mud flap silhouette on the side of the ship that takes them there.

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