Because young girls are all frivolous and fluffy, right?

[aesmael]

Note: Originally posted at feminist_rage

So we have a post at Bad Astronomy, where it is announced a new probe to Mars has been named Curiosity and that the name was bestowed by a sixth-grader named Clara Ma. Some of her essay was quoted:

Curiosity is an everlasting flame that burns in everyone’s mind. It makes me get out of bed in the morning and wonder what surprises life will throw at me that day. Curiosity is such a powerful force. Without it, we wouldn’t be who we are today. […] Curiosity is the passion that drives us through our everyday lives. We have become explorers and scientists with our need to ask questions and to wonder. Sure, there are many risks and dangers, but despite that, we still continue to wonder and dream and create and hope. We have discovered so much about the world, but still so little. We will never know everything there is to know, but with our burning curiosity, we have learned so much.

What do we get? Some commenter complaining that "I for one am tired of this PC campaign with cutesy names for major important science missions. Jesus, I’m surprised she didn’t call it My Pretty Pony or Hanna Montana."

What? What can he* possibly draw from that to be called cutesy, to be saying apparently on no other basis than her age and gender that she is some frivolous airhead whose every contribution is automatically worthless? It doesn't seem to me to be from the name itself, or what she wrote in favour of it, so it sure looks like he is just expressing an opinion young girls are automatically worthless, attributing to them the most devalued interests and expressions he can think of.

Later on he attributes her selection to being Asian, so at least he is being efficiently bigotted? As we all know, 'political correctness' means we favour people on the basis of gender, ethnicity etc. first and only then consider if they personally have any merit, right? That belief so far is the only way I have been able to make sense of his claims, apparently that she was selected first and we just got, what, lucky that she hadn't picked the name My Pretty Pony? Am very skeptical this would have played out the same if she had been a boy, or had a perceived masculine name, since it is so much more acceptable for a boy to be thought of as holding serious interests.

Also v. unimpressed with all the people doubting she wrote that essay herself.

*self-titled as 'man' in naming, so I feel safe in attributing gender.

Edit: Now I want to scream. Am behind on my astronomical news, catching up on reading and now seen the news on two other sites which are getting the same criticism.

"At least it wasn't named Fluffy Miss Muffybunny..... (Note: NEVER give young girls unilateral naming power over anything other than rabbits or horses....)"

"So when is NASA going to stop letting little girls and fake talk show hosts name their spacecraft?

Now I am waiting for the Hanna Montana mission to Jupiter.

Or maybe the Jonas Brothers space probe to Venus."

What are these people THINKING? That she won the competition and then got to call it whatever she wanted? How does this make sense as a criticism of her being the person to name it otherwise? I just... it seems like all people are seeing is 'young girl names Mars rover' and their minds leap straight to 'frivolous', 'obsessive' and 'irritating'.

I just hope the awesomeness of the prize makes up to her for any flak she may cop personally. Well, that and that people would stop being oppressive, bigoted arseholes.

Comments

[allieflowlight.livejournal.com]

Now I want to name a space probe Hannah Montana just to piss these people off. I mean, we already got a freaking space shuttle named after a fictional starship, so why not? Or is it only okay to name stuff after fiction if it's "manly"?

Blergh.

This knee-jerk disdain of the feminine really bugs me. Thanks for posting about it (I haven't read fem_rage for years because I got sick of all the anti-trans cispeople).

[syntaxia.livejournal.com]

Holy Mother of Pepsi, people are stupid. And bigoted.

Unfortunately, your interpretation that they (adult men) assume everything coming from young girls is automatically worthless seems correct.

Hell, I assume my own contributions and ideas and the whole person is automatically worthless because I'm female (what's even worse, female and refusing to do the only thing females are "traditionally" allowed to be useful at: being an unpaid servant to a man and a baby-producing unit).

Thanks for pointing to feminist_rage, I have a feeling I'll like this community.

[aesmael.livejournal.com]

Hopefully you will have fun with the community. Is generally a pretty good one, with occasional exceptions. They do have a tendency to reject people on first application (particularly I think if the journal is mostly locked), but nearly always admit on second attempt or with explanation. I think that might be policy.

[lost-angelwings.livejournal.com]

I have no idea if they just fail at reading comprehension or they saw the headlines and immediately jumped to confusions and "knew" what the story cuz they alrdy had the narrative drawn out in their sexist racist brains or what... >:\ But they all seem to be acting as if she either won a raffle or an essay contest that had nothing to do with the name, and was granted the sole right to name the thing and we're all just lucky she didn't name it "Super Fancy Pants Ship III Esq." or something >.<;;;

It's abs ridic how ppl can believe that little boys are interested in science, technology, science fiction, can be geeks and nerds, but little girls are ALL THE SAME, they're all 1 dimensional pink fluffy cut outs who like Hannah Montana and there is nothing else going on in their brains re: interests or thoughts or nething (ironically this includes CURIOUSITY that they dun think little girls have either)... and it carries on too, with teen girls cuz then the stereotype just moves up a notch and they just care about shopping and boys! And then onwards to just caring about babies, and fashion and status!

Like these ppl will pay lip service to not being sexist but whent hey say crap like that it's clear that they srsly do believe that there is NOTHING going on and can be nothing going on in the brain of a girl >:O

[jessie-c.livejournal.com]

I look forward to seeing the Hannah Montana probe, the Dora Explorer and the Invisible Pink Unicorn Space Telescope. It's well past time that we girls got the chance to give space probes ridiculous and pretentious-sounding names. Puncturing Pomposity with feminine pulchritude is an as yet unused tactic.

[mantic-angel.livejournal.com]

I actually think the Dora Explorer would be a rather neat sign of social progress :)

[pazi-ashfeather.livejournal.com]

Coming soon to a battlefield near you: the artificially-intelligent autonomous roving incendiary device, Dora the Exploder.

[lost-angelwings.livejournal.com]

I still think we should name our space probes "Please Don't Hurt Us"

[jessie-c.livejournal.com]

Or "Oh, hai! I R in yr solr systm spyin on ur dudes!"

[allieflowlight.livejournal.com]

Puncturing Pomposity with feminine pulchritude

That sounds like a great life goal. :D Also a great slogan! I'd steal it, but I'm not very pulchritudinous myself... XD

[jessie-c.livejournal.com]

It's all in the attitude : )
Take ownership of your pulchritude and be pulchritudinous!

[cmcmck.livejournal.com]

It's much the same being a female military historian- somehow our views are considered to be of much less worth, especially by ex serving (male) military types.

Sigh :o( I seem to have been fighting such attitudes for a very long time...............