#Shirtstorm
The Bullies Won
Long Live the Bullies
Who will stand with me for individuality, and freedom of expression?
The bullying started with a 'reporter' focusing on an irrelevant detail instead of a monumental human achievement. It ended in triumph for the bullies when the geek who'd been targeted apologized to them in tears, because he was in danger of losing his livelihood if he didn't kowtow to their desires. I'm furious. This is simply unacceptable. It is not ok to let the bullies win. I've spent years telling my daughters that it's ok to be different, to not dress like every other girl in school. It's ok for them to be geeks, to love science, to be in band, to not do what all the cool kids think they ought to do. And now, this comes along and suddenly all the work I have done is set back by the prissy mean girls who can't stand that geeks are Odds. My initial comment on this stands. "Arguing that this is why women don't go into science is beyond ludicrous. Based on my observations at school, most women don't go into science because it would mess up their hair and chip their nails, and they went to school where they passed because they were girls, and science is HARD, so they switch to journalism. And the few, the proud, the insanely weird like all the others we know and love in the field, we keep going because Science is cool, and that's where the boys are (and who wants to hang out with a bunch of girls who are only interested in critiquing your shirt?)." I bought two shirts today. One is for my First Reader, one is for me. I'll model it for the blog when it arrives. (Edited to add, the Gunner Gals shirt the scientist is wearing can be found here, I bought that design, and the one pictured below, because spaceships). And Matt Taylor, I realize you will never see this, or your awesome friend Elly Prizeman who made the shirt for you. But I'm so sad that the bullies took the joy out of your amazing accomplishments, and the pleasure from wearing your cool shirt. I hope someday you can don it again with a smile, instead of seeing the cloud they are raining on you with right now. Philae is a reason for kids to get into science, your shirt is just a great expression of individual freedom. Welcome, Instapundit Readers! Glad to see you, and thanks for helping me tell the world.
Classic SF, Women who carried rayguns and faced down space monsters. What's not to love about this?