Awful video of women in science gets some good replacements

Last summer, the European Commission released a video called "Science: It's a Girl Thing!" that was so terrible and roundly condemned for, among other things, stereotyping women as only being interested in science as long as it had to do with the science of makeup that it was pulled within 30 hours of being posted.

As the Guardian put it, "the women wore short skirts and stilettos as they pouted and giggled while clumsily dropping models of molecules all over the lab floor. When the girls did seem to have some interest in science, it was directed towards the science of make-up. Indeed, the video could almost be a hip cosmetics commercial."

But let's put that nightmare behind us. The good news is that there now are a number of good substitutes, the result of a contest to find a replacement.

(If you're still curious to see the original video, check it out near the end of this post in the second to last video.)

If you'd rather be inspired by some really compelling reasons for women to get into science, check out the winning replacement entry, by a French team:

Next, watch the second winning entry by an Australian team. In this video, a girl weighs the drudgery of an office job against the fun of doing experiments in the lab:

Finally, our favorite entry is by an American team, which won the viewers' choice runner-up award:

And, if you dare to watch, here's the original awful video:

If that makes you want to cry, this parody video (not related to the contest) may make you laugh. This version by women scientists at the University of Bristol in the UK hilariously features female scientists spying on cute male subjects, doing math problems in lipstick on mirrors and more:

Related on SmartPlanet:

• Study shows pervasive gender bias in science
• Not Pfizer? No problem. You can fund science research too
• Will the rise of video learning mean fewer teachers?
• Riding bikes harmful to female sexual health
• 17-year-old devises potential cure for cancer
• Surgery for female genital mutilation restores sexual pleasure
• What turns a man's mind to mush? A female observer

via: The Atlantic, Huffington Post, Guardian

photo: screenshot from The Future Belongs to Us

This post was originally published on Smartplanet.com