To say Matt Taylor is a cool guy is an understatement. The son of a bricklayer from North-East London jumped onto the European Space Agency’s Rosetta Mission to land on a comet for the first time only in the summer of last year. He threw down the gauntlet to his team of veteran Rosetta-heads by promising to get the mission tattooed on his leg if the mission as successful. And when it did, he followed through.
His blue-collar demeanor and multiple tattoos have shaken the stereotypical nerd image of skinny men in lab coats eyeing beakers. The man is expressive: He ttalks with his hands and throws in small jokes in stodgy interviews. And the success of the Rosetta mission, which was not only groundbreaking but also caught the interest of the world more than any previous ESA mission, adds to his scientific chops.
But his now-infamous shirt depicting scantily clad women has eclipsed his personality and achievements – and spawned #shirtgate. The Internet instantly jumped onto the wardrobe choice, seeing it as one of many clues that women aren’t welcome into the STEM world.
And they’re right. But not really.
Yes, feminism is vital and lacking in the world of science. But Matt Taylor’s shirt shouldn’t have called for pitchforks and name-calling, which he bore the brunt of, but of education. When I look at Taylor, I don’t see a dumb misogynist. I see a man who really didn’t know what an important role he was in the conversation, and that in the glaring blaze of the public spotlight he represented more than Rosetta. For a moment, he represented the scientific community. And in that moment he simply forgot what a sensitive topic women in the industry were.
I can empathize – if you spent two years on a groundbreaking mission that some of your colleagues have dedicated close to two decades to you might get a little tired. A bit dumb, to be honest. And not all of your choices may be thought through.
This is why feminism is important. So that people can be educated and aware of how important gender equality is. So that good people, like Matt Taylor, can know all the implications of his actions, tacit or verbal. Spreading awareness allows people to make an informed choice about what or whom they represent. I’d like to think that if Taylor were a bit more knowledgeable he would have known the demoralizing message he was sending to young female scientists with that shirt. And he would have known it wasn’t right.
“I’ve offended many people. And I’m very sorry about this,” Matt Taylor said in an interview before tearing up. His tears were real as his remorse. When people saw his shirt, they saw it as an opportunity to tear the man down not to help him see another perspective. It’s easy and ideal to demonize enemies, but in Matt Taylor’s case the man was simply a bit ignorant. Maybe this explanation’s too simple. Maybe a lesson had to be made. But either way, I really think that the path to gender equality is to extend a hand in understanding and not shoot someone down for a simple mistake.
