EU fail

baby and crumble

I don't see a thread for this video yet so I just wanted to see what you ladies thought of this effort by the EU to combat gender imbalance in the sciences.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g032MPrSjFA

Yes, that's a video by THE EU, meant to stop gender stereotyping in science, to make girls think seriously about a career in science.

I cannot express how irritated I am by it. Am i the only one???

Ickle Magoo

Well, that's it - if I'm allowed pink goggles then I'm definitely going to be a particle physicist.

Catchy tune - otherwise...I don't get it. Pinkness, lipstick, mini-skirts, every stereotypical "girly" thing going - throw in a nerd gawking at girls over his compound microscope and suddenly girls will be lining up to sign up to science courses...? Is that really the logic?

baby and crumble wrote: »

Yes, that's a video by THE EU, meant to stop gender stereotyping in science, to make girls think seriously about a career in science...

It can't be meant to stop gender stereotyping - it looks more like promoting gender stereotyping as an attempt to change nerd-stereotyping...but only for women...

FouxDaFaFa

What a weird ad. It's not even clear what it's about, it looks like a Maybelline ad.

Oh, look! Make-up!! And a...microscope...

confusticated

Yeah, that's way more like a make up ad than anything else...the start is like the Boots here come the girls ads. I doubt anybody would ever believe that this could encourage girls into the sciences....if that's the point of this.

Jessibelle

It's just so ... gah! I think this will be the only time in my Boards history my use of the rolly eye smiley will be justified. Seriously, EU advertising people!:rolleyes:

Lia_lia

o.O

What the hell was that.

Victor

So, how many other threads have been in TLL discussing encouraging women into science?

Ickle Magoo wrote: »

It can't be meant to stop gender stereotyping - it looks more like promoting gender stereotyping as an attempt to change nerd-stereotyping...but only for women...

I think it just might be trying to (a) attract those that might be distracted by shiny pink things to consider science (b) say that you can have shiny pink things and do science as well.

Let's face it, for a lot of 12-20 year olds, male and female, science and engineering aren't taken seriously as potential career paths.

Edit: http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2012/0623/1224318509582.html

lilmissprincess

What. The. Hell. Is. That.

what is this i don't even

Fizzlesque

If you hadn't said in your opening post that it was an EU thing to combat gender stereotyping and encourage women to get into science, I wouldn't have know that's what it was about.

As someone else said, it reminded me of the Boots ad "here come the girls" which was for make-up and getting ready to party.

If ads were to have the power to influence me regarding whether or not to get involved in science, this one would probably put me off; all that pink, giggling girls, scarily high heels, shiny, smooth legs in tiny shorts, and the modelesque posing. Pretty much the same tiresome imagery, of what it's supposed to mean to be a woman, that's used for products that aren't part of the 'women can take part too, you know' drive for gender equality.

I'd love to see their ad for encouraging men that it's OK to be interested in any of the traditionally-viewed female professions. :rolleyes:

krudler

lol wtf is that? surprised they didnt show someone breaking a nail doing experiments. Thats just mind bogglingly patronising.

Dave0301

I say this as a science teacher; What an idiotic ad!!

I have been asked in interviews how to promote science uptake esp. physics to girls as there is an imbalance in that particular subject, needless to say that video would not be used!

Morgase

When I saw the video first, I was sure it was a skit making fun of previous efforts at enticing women into science. Nearly fell off my chair when I saw the EU logos at the end.

So I had a look around and it seems that this is the introductory video for the scheme, and they've made a bunch of other videos (http://science-girl-thing.eu/profiles-of-women-in-science) showing young female scientists working.

These other videos are much better though they still have the "Science: it's a girl thing" logo written in lipstick with the "i" of science replaced with a tube of lipstick. At least those ones have the scientists saying why they love what they do. I can't imagine why the introductory video was let loose on the world at all!

Mr. CooL ICE

Reminds me of this:

MissFlitworth

EU ads are a bit weird & unappealling, the anti-smoking ones etc, they always strike me as something that was made by throwing a few random phrases into a computer & making an ad following the exact script it burps out. The blusher brush full of blue powder has to have been something thought up by a robot, unless blue faces are all the rage in.Brussels.


Just re the comment about the lack of threads in tLL encouraging women into science, I wasnt aware that there was an issue in Ireland with women not working in/studying science? Maybe my friends arent typical but so many of them are lab bunnies & a huge chunk of my leaving cert year went on to study science subjects at 3rd level

Victor

MissFlitworth wrote: »

Just re the comment about the lack of threads in tLL encouraging women into science, I wasnt aware that there was an issue in Ireland with women not working in/studying science? Maybe my friends arent typical but so many of them are lab bunnies & a huge chunk of my leaving cert year went on to study science subjects at 3rd level

Female take-up in engineering, maths, physics, less so chemistry has been poor. Biology has a good take-up, certainly to leaving cert level.

Fluorescence

Still few enough of us womenfolk in Comp Sci. In my class of 60, there's about 5 girls. In my friend's course in Carlow she was the only female in her year.

That ad would almost put me off science, to be honest. It's so patronising.

Jack B. Badd

...are we sure it's not the intro to a bad porno?

WindSock

Nw we cn waer make up n stuff n laff n wit our heels on in d lab!!!! Omfg i science!!!! 2mrw we lern hw 2 make lipstick lmfao i don care hw its made i jus wan 2 ware it n luk prtty

Looks like something that pops up in a sitcom like the Priest-chat ad in Father Ted.

Blowfish

Fluorescence wrote: »

That ad would almost put me off science, to be honest. It's so patronising.

Indeed. This fits it best:

mackg

“It is intended to catch the attention of the target audience – 13- to 17-year- old girls.”

My niece is a sixteen year old girl, a bright sixteen year old girl and it's insulting that the EU think this kind of crap is going to impact her decisions on her LC subjects and college further down the line.

Mr Jennings said that focus groups informed the commission that the video had to “speak their language to get their attention” and that it was intended to be “fun, catchy” and strike a chord with young people.

This smacks of some hopelessly out of touch committee trying to be dwn wit da kidz, it's pathetic and teenagers see straight through this kind of crap.

If, when I was sixteen, someone showed me a video of some guy lifting weights, drinking pints and driving a sports car with the tagline: Beauty therapy, it's a guy thing I'm pretty sure I would have got quite the laugh out of it.

I just finished a chemistry degree where my class was a 50/50 split, the company where I did my industrial placement was 50/50, the postgrad in my college is female dominated. A casual stroll past the labs on any given day will show that girls outnumber boys 2:1 roughly, this is only one college but surely it can't be a complete reversal on the general trend?

WesternNight

I might just play devil's advocate for a second...

It could be argued that the video is suggesting that no matter how stereotypically girly you are, you can still be interested in and involved in science. That you don't have to be stereotypically nerdy/socially awkward/geeky/male to be a scientist.

That *could* have been what they were trying to say, but I think they did it wrong.

panda100

FouxDaFaFa wrote: »

It's not even clear what it's about, it looks like a Maybelline ad.

I thought it was an ad for Boohoo.com, it even has the same music.

dfx-

Fluorescence wrote: »

Still few enough of us womenfolk in Comp Sci. In my class of 60, there's about 5 girls. In my friend's course in Carlow she was the only female in her year.

At third level in my college, chemistry and biology have large numbers of women..

My undergrad chemistry course was 30 women, 9 men and it appears every year since the balance has been similar or moreso. From first year chemistry labs that I supervise now over the past five years, it is very strongly female-based. If there's a group of 25 students, to have 6 males would be a surprise. There's also only one lab semester that I've had that was with a male lecturer/co-supervisor. Friends amongst postgrad peers would be 7:3 female majority.

Physics is the exact opposite though. I do have experience of EU COST initiatives where female participation is an obsessive issue for those in Brussels.

mcmoustache

I read all the posts first before watching this thing and I still wasn't fully prepared for what was about to assault my senses.

I almost understand what they're trying to do with the video but it's one of the most patronising ads that I've seen since the satirical "Know your limits" sketches.

I also can't help thinking that if a girl is convinced to enter science as a result of this video, she might not be the kind of person who can do science.

PrincessLola

Not liking that video tbh BUT,

I guess what it was trying to say was that there is also nothing wrong with bringing femininity into science, femininity is not masculinity's inferior and wearing fake-tan and lipstick doesn't make you stupid or a bimbo or incapable of science.

But yeah the ad was totes stupid and patronising, they went about it the wrong way.

However I don't think women should feel like they have to be 'one of the lads' to be taken seriously, maybe thats what this ad was trying to say?

Dante

For some reason this sprang to mind

Pawwed Rig

They spoke about this add on Bobby Kerr's Newstalk programme this morning. It is getting bad press there aswell.
Apparently Maire Geoghegan Quinn was one of the driving forces behind it.

It is a very simplistic add and I don't know who they are going to attract with it but having said that it is getting the message out there whereas a 'better' add may have been ignored

The Big Red Button

Wow, that is so patronising, it's actually funny!

At the moment, the video has 269 "likes" on YouTube, compared to 1,731 "dislikes" ... says a lot!

Piste

I'd like to see a parody ad of men tossing babies around like rugby balls, driving ferrarri's full of children and knocking back juice from a pint glass with the message "childcare: It's a boy thing".

Victor

chatterpillar wrote: »

Wow, that is so patronising, it's actually funny!

At the moment, the video has 269 "likes" on YouTube, compared to 1,731 "dislikes" ... says a lot!

Interesting that those numbers add up to a nice round 2,000.

Piste wrote: »

I'd like to see a parody ad of men tossing babies around like rugby balls, driving ferrarri's full of children and knocking back juice from a pint glass with the message "childcare: It's a boy thing".

Whatever about parodies, men and childcare need to be normalised.

Sonics2k

Apologies for the bump on this, but I felt it was relevant to the thread and topic in general.


Cheerleaders urge girls to love science

Girls are more likely to lose interest in science than boys, and that’s contributing to the nation’s weakening pool of college graduates with science degrees. The Science Cheerleaders are trying to do something about that.

http://venturebeat.com/2012/07/15/cheerleaders-urge-girls-to-love-science/

All in all, not really a bad idea, especially when compared to the EU disaster.

Anyone have any thoughts on this method? Do you think it will be an affective method.

General Relativity

Trying to fix a gender imbalance is rubbish tbh. Women who have an interest in science will presue it into 3rd level either way, those who don't, wont. There's no barrier to entry for women into science, so, who cares?

Millicent

General Relativity wrote: »

Trying to fix a gender imbalance is rubbish tbh. Women who have an interest in science will presue it into 3rd level either way, those who don't, wont. There's no barrier to entry for women into science, so, who cares?

We care. Obviously the people who took the time to reply to this thread before you care.

If you take a girl and tell her all her life to play with baby dolls, look pretty, watch her figure or be taken less seriously as a human being, that her role is to nurture, that she's more emotional than logical, that she should want to get married when she grows up and that she will likely be the one to give up work to look after children if circumstances/finances dictate that someone must...

If you never tell her that she could be a scientist or introduce her to some of its interesting aspects or get her thinking about the big bang or chemical reactions or the biology of things, why would she choose a career in science?

Outkast_IRE

I dont think theres a gender imbalance in science in Ireland , well not in the chemistry/biology side of things anyway.

Im in a third level institute at the moment and if anything i see slightly more females than males in these areas.

The OH has a science degree - chemistry and her class was 60%male 40%female , and her current workplace has more women in it than men in the science area of things.

If anything its engineering where you see a huge disparity.