THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION has withdrawn a YouTube video which was supposed to encourage young women to pursue science careers but was dismissed as ‘patronising’ and ‘demeaning’.
The video entitled ‘Science: It’s a girl thing!’ was roundly criticised for perpetuating gender stereotypes which the campaign is intended to break down.
The minute-long video featured young women hanging out and laughing in a laboratory filled with overflowing beakers, interspersed with random pictures of lipstick and make-up brushes. It can no longer be viewed on YouTube but can be seen on the Daily Telegraph website.
The video was produced by the Research and Innovation wing of the European Commission, which is headed by Ireland’s nominee to the EC, Máire Geoghegan-Quinn.
Launching the campaign and the video on Thursday, Geoghegan-Quinn said that the video made studying science look so cool that she wished she could turn back the clock a few years and study science subjects.
The video received an overwhelmingly negative reaction on Twitter.
While the teaser video for the campaign backfired, the other videos on the campaign’s YouTube page feature interviews with women scientists working in various areas across the EU, including nanotechnology, astrophysics and engineering.
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