Misplaced Pages

Shirtstorm

Article snapshot taken from[REDACTED] with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 70.133.154.32 (talk) at 00:53, 22 November 2014 (WP:BOLD edit to remove weasel words; let's see if it sticks). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Revision as of 00:53, 22 November 2014 by 70.133.154.32 (talk) (WP:BOLD edit to remove weasel words; let's see if it sticks)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)
An editor has nominated this article for deletion.
You are welcome to participate in the deletion discussion, which will decide whether or not to retain it.Feel free to improve the article, but do not remove this notice before the discussion is closed. For more information, see the guide to deletion.
Find sources: "Shirtstorm" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR%5B%5BWikipedia%3AArticles+for+deletion%2FShirtstorm%5D%5DAFD
The topic of this article may not meet Misplaced Pages's general notability guideline. Please help to demonstrate the notability of the topic by citing reliable secondary sources that are independent of the topic and provide significant coverage of it beyond a mere trivial mention. If notability cannot be shown, the article is likely to be merged, redirected, or deleted.
Find sources: "Shirtstorm" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (November 2014) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Shirtstorm (#shirtstorm), also called Shirtgate, is a controversy involving a shirt worn by Matt Taylor, a scientist working on the Rosetta mission.

Background

Taylor was asked to give a report on the progress of Philae on 12 November 2014. He was wearing a colourful shirt depicting cartoon women, some of whom were scantily-clad. The shirt was a birthday gift from Elly Prizeman, a friend of his who had made it. His choice of clothing was a contrast to other team members.

Some radical feminists objected to Dr Taylor's choice of clothing as they found it reflected a culture where women were unwelcome in scientific fields. The controversy was reported on several news websites such as CNN, The Telegraph, The Guardian or Talking Points Memo. Other websites such as The Verge and Stem Women blamed Taylor for his choice of clothing, claiming it was associated with rampant sexism.

Public apology

On 14 November 2014, Dr Taylor made a public apology. “I have made a big mistake,” he said. “I have offended people and I am sorry about this”. The event was covered by news websites as well, including Daily Mail and The Guardian.

Backlash

The Telegraph described Shirtstorm as "the day political correctness officially went mad". Other commentators such as Boris Johnson and Julie Bindel objected to those who had complained about the shirt.

Rose Eveleth, an online journalist, received criticism as well as a tweet asking her to kill herself as a result of her reaction towards Dr Taylor's shirt. In a statement the Astronomical Society of Australia condemned the reaction to those who criticized the shirt as "unwarranted and reprehensible.". While Phil Plait described the reaction to those criticizing Dr Taylor as "a frothing torrent of backlash misogyny".

Some online campaigns were started to show their support for Taylor, one of which was a crowdfunding effort to buy an astronomical watch for him, as well as a bottle of whiskey for every member of the team. The campaign began on 15 November 2014 and had over 1300 backers, giving more than 17000$ after three days.

References

  1. Rottman, Kerstin. "#Shirtgate bringt "Rosetta"-Forscher zum Weinen". welt.de. Die Welt. Retrieved 19 November 2014.
  2. Young, Cathy. "How to Turn a Cool Moment Into a #ShirtStorm". time.com.
  3. Chappell, Bill. "'Shirtstorm' Leads To Apology From European Space Scientist". npr.org. Retrieved 21 November 2014.
  4. ^ Bell, Alice. "Why women in science are annoyed at Rosetta mission scientist's clothing". Theguardian.com. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
  5. Lisa Respers France, CNN (13 November 2014). "Philae scientist Matt Taylor slammed for sexist shirt - CNN.com". CNN. {{cite web}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  6. ^ Tim Stanley (15 November 2014). "Matt Taylor's sexist shirt and the day political correctness officially went mad". Telegraph.co.uk.
  7. Catherine Thompson. "Rosetta Scientist Sparks #ShirtStorm With Scantily Clad Women On Shirt". TPM.
  8. Chris Plante, Arielle Duhaime-Ross. "I don't care if you landed a spacecraft on a comet, your shirt is sexist and ostracizing". The Verge.
  9. Zuleyka Zevallos. "Astronomical Sexism: Rosetta #ShirtStorm and Everyday Sexism in STEM". STEM Women.
  10. Sara Malm, Sarah Griffiths. "Philae probe scientist in sexism row over shirt in tears during live broadcast - Daily Mail Online". Mail Online.
  11. James Meikle. "Rosetta scientist Dr Matt Taylor apologises for 'offensive' shirt". the Guardian.
  12. ^ Boris Johnson (16 November 2014). "Dr Matt Taylor's shirt made me cry, too – with rage at his abusers". Telegraph.co.uk.
  13. Julie Bindel. "Feminism is in danger of becoming toxic". the Guardian.
  14. Anna Merlan. "Woman Gets Death Threats for Tweeting About Disliking A Dude's Shirt". Jezebel.
  15. "The ASA supports members who speak up for a gender inclusive science community" (PDF). Asa.astronomy.org.au. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
  16. Phil Plait. "Casual sexism: When a shirt is more than a shirt". Slate Magazine.
  17. "Matt Taylor, Rosetta project scientist". Indiegogo. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
Shirtstorm Add topic