Blue Origin’s “first all-female spaceflight” was framed as a bold step forward, a headline-grabbing moment for women in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math). Positioned as progress meant to encourage girls to pursue STEM and inspire the next generation of explorers, the mission missed a critical opportunity: to celebrate not just the six women aboard, but the thousands of others already leading innovation in science and technology. Instead, it became less about honoring their achievements and more about promoting a glossy, marketable image of what female success should look like.
The focus shifted from substance to spectacle. Rather than celebrating these six accomplished women for their courage or contributions, the spotlight fixated on appearance and celebrity. The message? Women and girls can reach for the stars, but only if they look good doing it.
I’m not sure the purpose of this flight was to celebrate these women. Even though most of them are awesome and have done awesome things, they weren’t given time to speak or room to inspire.
Instead they focused the media attention on the kinds of people they want to buy tickets for the rocket ride, along with the things they think they are excited about. At the end of the day, these are ads for the rocket ride. From Shatner to Perry to whoever they can convince to ride next, they are there for the ‘glam’, the future paying passengers are the ones who are theoretically inspired by this display.
I think the quote about testing out a hairdo by skydiving in Dubai might be one of the least relatable things I’ve ever heard, but I bet it resonates with a certain type of person with a lot more money to burn than I’ve got.
This is a great article. As always, thank you for sharing it here, Alyaza!
