It isn’t a GOOD thing that all those women went to space in Blue Origin
The Blue Origin took six female celebrities up in space for 11 minutes. Many praised the trip for taking an all female “crew” up and it isn’t a celebration of feminism. It’s an embarrassment of riches.
Katy Perry, Gayle King, and Lauren Sánchez were joined by Amanda Nguyen, ex-NASA engineer Aisha Bowe, and film producer Kerianne Flynn on the flight and the six women went up and back down relatively quickly. Since their return, many have been critical of the adventure and rightfully so. The 11 minute space glimpse helped in burning parts of the ozone layer. So hope it was worth it!
King has pushed back at those who are critical of it. “Space is not an either/or. It’s a both/and,” she said. “And because you do something in space doesn’t mean you’re taking anything away from Earth. And what you’re doing in space is trying to make things better here on Earth. What Blue Origin wants to do is take the waste here and figure out a way to put it in space to make our planet cleaner.”
“Jeff Bezos has so many ideas, and the people that are working there are really devoted and dedicated to making our planet a better place,” she added. “There was nothing frivolous about what we did. So, you know, I’m very disappointed and very saddened by it. And I also say this: ‘What it’s doing to inspire other women and young girls, please don’t ignore that. I’ve had so many women and young girls reach out to me. And men too, by the way … that say, ‘Wow, I never thought I could do that. But I see you doing it.’”
What is inspiring about it? Have enough money and you too can go to space?
Sanchez, Perry, and King are not astronauts. So the idea that it is “inspiring” to young girls is a bit odd. I was inspired by female astronauts as a child. Women like Sally Ride and the work of Katherine Johnson was what made my love of space as strong as it is. A bunch of rich women spending money to go up for 11 minutes and parading it as “inspiring” is not that.
The fact that the idea of this trip was to show what is capable to help earth is RICH given the fact that these Blue Origin missions are not good for the environment! The entire situation is just a mess and we’re supposed to just say that it is okay that these women went up there for a joy ride? It isn’t going to inspire a young girl to embark on a science or math career because only ONE of the women who went up was even remotely attached to NASA.
Instead, this mission just showed what you can do when you have too much money on your hands and I don’t think that it should be an inspiration to young girls. It’s teaching them that money buys your happiness, in my opinion, and that’s the wrong kind of dream to have.
(featured image: Blue Origin)
Have a tip we should know? [email protected]
