Let's Talk About How Out-Of-Touch That Celeb All-Female Space Mission Was
Note: This post is an Op-Ed and shares the author's personal views.
If you want an idea of what performative pop feminism is under Donald Trump, look no further than the all-female Blue Origin flight.
Earlier today, the private space company owned by Jeff Bezos sent a number of women into space — famous faces including his fiancé, Lauren Sánchez, as well as Gayle King and Katy Perry. Depressingly, it's the first all-female space crew since a Russian woman went to space alone 60 years ago. And, oh boy, do they want you to know that.
A quick note on the word "crew." It's the word Blue Origin uses in their press material, but to be crystal clear, the New Shepard ship used is "fully autonomous." In their roughly 11-minute trip to the Kármán line, none of the women on board were actually operating the ship. "Passengers" is arguably a better word. As such, it's more of an advert for Blue Origin's space tourism for rich people than any kind of scientific feat. 58 people had already been flown to space on the same ship.
Pre-flight, the ladies all sat down for an Elle interview called "For All Womankind." Here, it's noted that the group was organized by Lauren — the same woman who sat with Jeff near the front of the inauguration of Mr. "Grab-Em-By-The-Pussy." Amanda Nguyen, a domestic violence activist, said in the interview that Blue Origin told her, 'We want to uplift your women's rights work.'
But, in December, Amazon rolled back its DEI programs. Conversely, the Elle interview highlights the racial diversity of the crew, with Katy saying that she wants to show her daughter "that any type of person can reach their dreams — no matter your background, your ethnicity, your economic situation, or your education level."
So dream big kid, unless you're a factory worker for Amazon abroad. I don't deny that it does get complicated, as someone like Amanda's work does deserve to be highlighted, but it feels vastly disingenuous when the man behind it all said he was "very optimistic" about a second Trump presidency.
There was also the emphasis of hair and makeup. "If I could take glam up with me, I would do that. We are going to put the 'ass' in astronaut," Katy told Elle, later saying that she hopes "to inspire a whole new generation and make space and science glam." There's plenty of insinuation that the reason women are underrepresented in some STEM fields is because it's not girlypop enough, and not, as Amanda notes for one, "Gender-based violence is a big reason why so many women in STEM don't continue on with their training, and I was one of those women."
In a pre-flight Instagram video, Katy noted that they were called the "Taking Up Space Crew." Again, here is the language of women's liberation, the nodding to the idea that women should be unafraid to be themselves and take up room, but what is behind it? There's no broader initiative beyond "women in space is good" because that would be too much like DEI.
I know it's annoying to "People are dying, Kim" everything, but honestly, women are literally dying in this country because of a lack of access to abortion care. Go to space, whatever, but must it sound so self-important?
Katy further spoke about "Mother Earth" and said after her flight — where she promoted her upcoming Lifetimes tour — 'It's not about me. It's not about singing my songs. It's about a collective energy and making space for future women. It's about this wonderful world that we see right out there and appreciating it. This is all for the benefit of Earth.'
Call me a hater but...how???? How much money was spent on this that could have been spent on a million other things??? A few days ago, the administration that Jeff is so fond of proposed slashing NASA's funding. But let's not worry about the decline of actual government-funded research and instead celebrate the profit-hungry private companies. I love you, oligarchs!
I guess we now know that space tourism isn't just for the male billionaires hellbent on destroying our planet: Women can do it too!
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