Wading Into an Uncomfortable Debate
Events that have occurred in recent history that are relevant to this post:
Humanity landed a probe on a comet.
People took offence to the shirt that the spokesman was wearing.
I’m going to make my position as clear as I possibly can here: It was a daft idea to wear the shirt while delivering a press statement, I can see why it offended people, I don’t believe Dr. Matt Taylor is necessarily a misogynist, I think the ESA should be lauded for the fact that they achieved an amazing technological feat.
Phew. Breathe. So yes, as long-term readers probably know, I don’t identify myself as being a feminist due to lack of any real reading into the subject, but I fully support efforts towards making society more equal on all grounds, and feminism is a great step forward in that direction. I’ve been following the media circus surrounding what I can only assume is being referred to as ‘shirtgate’ with no small amount of dismay, and that’s on both sides of the fence right there.
The key point, as far as I’m concerned, is that an amazing technological feat has been completely eclipsed by divisions over another topic. Rendevousing with the comet and actually landing onto its surface, no matter how imperfectly, was an outstanding achievement in science and in engineering, and if you don’t believe me go and play Kerbal Space Program. Seriously, I’ve learned more about orbital mechanics from KSP than any textbook I’ve ever read. This is an important event in human history, because it provides us with valuable scientific data, and potentially sows the seeds for comet and asteroid mining, which at some point in the distant future is going to be vital for our continued propagation as a species.
Now, having said that, I understand why people have taken offence to the shirt Dr. Taylor was wearing, depicting scantily-clad buxom women in provocative poses. Caveat – I’m pretty sure I used to own a similar garment when I was about 13, and I will admit to having thought it was pretty cool at the time. Do I regret purchasing it? No, but that’s because I don’t wear it anymore. I’m self-aware enough to realise that such graphics do make people uncomfortable, not least because of the unpleasant tang of objectification that haunts it. And so, I have grown uncomfortable with the idea of personally wearing garments like that.
Whether or not you believe that such images should be considered offensive is somewhat immaterial – offense was caused, and some course of action needed to be taken to remediate this. Dr. Taylor opted to apologise for the shirt, which he issued through a tear-stained press conference. And yet still he continues to be hammered for his initial lapse of judgement.
This is what I have a problem with. He made a mistake, he attempted to rectify it, can’t we just crack on with the science now? Apparently not – the shirt seems to represent a wider problem within Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. And I agree to an extent – These subjects can easily be seen as a kind of ‘boys club’ that acts as a natural barrier to women excelling in the field. But to hound one man for the systemic failings of entire swathes of academia is unfair, and undermines the good, legitimate work that has been done not just by Dr. Taylor but by an entire team of scientists and engineers. It pulls down the purity of the science and muddies it with the failings of humanity. And this makes me sad.
What worries me more, however, is the counter-backlash. As angry as many feminists were, there was a kind of bounce-back from anti-feminists on the subject. This is exactly what we don’t need. Although I do feel that the initial anger persisted longer than it should have, this doesn’t mean in any way shape or form that we need to somehow ‘disband’ feminism. Why in the name of all that is sacred would you want to form an anti-feminist league? The whole thing reeks of Married With Children style shenanigans, and just dents my faith in humanity.
Society absolutely needs feminism, just as it needs people standing up for ethnic minorities, the disabled, those less fortunate. Wherever people are not getting their fair share, we need people pushing for equality. And if they happen to shout a bit louder than maybe they should, that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t still listen to them. We shouldn’t just tell them “Right, that’s it, no more”. We just work with them to get the conversation back onto level, calm ground.
Or am I being a bit naive?
People should be good to other people!
M.
Not naïve and I think ALL sides are very over reacting…nobody and I do mean nobody seems to have considered that it may just have been the last clean shirt he had (think about it) or he got dressed in a hurry and just wasn’t paying attention.
But what would I know, I’m a white male of nominally European extraction (heh, I’ve got all the isles and most of NE Europe in me) and I own at least one shirt that is a copy of a sign a business that had to take the sign down because some thin skinned humourless people were offended by. I think much of the vocal public chest beating is mostly by those either seeking attention (a minority I admit) and many who are just wanting a reason to be offended. I suspect they’d also be offended by my Alice in Chains shirt.