Linnea Ista <lkista at unm.edu> writes:
> I find that the URL "girl.crew" is pretty telling. Are they really going
> to send teens or preteens into space. Now THAT is a story :-)
The editor chose that title on purpose
(http://www2.astrobiology.com/nasa/watch.html):
Update: I have received several comments - all from female readers -
which take issue with my use of the term "girl". Yes, it is a
potentially demeaning word when used in this context - and the word
"woman" would be, perhaps, more correct to use. But that's the point!
Dan Goldin has sanctioned (by virtue of not saying NO when given ample
chance to do so) consideration of a shuttle mission wherein the prime
qualification for flying (in any role) is posession of ovaries. The
crew's professional qualifications are secondary. I find this
immensely demeaning to women.
This is not to imply that I do not think that an all female shuttle
crew would not be as successful or professional as a mixed or all-male
crew. Indeed, given the male-dominated gauntlets women still have to
confront these days in their professional lives, I suspect that the
women in the astronaut corps are all extra-capable - and that it is
quite possible - even likely - that their "all female" flight would be
extra-ordinarily successful.
--
Alan Shutko <ats at acm.org> - By consent of the corrupted
Do people know you have freckles everywhere?
