Grazia’s Lucy Vine wants to know why men are so concerned about mascara needs in space...
My niece, Tilly is three and she wants to be a tractor driver when she grows up. She loves tractors – LOVES them. Way way more than she loves me (she’s told me this many times). If we pass a tractor on the road – and it seems lorries and oversized vans also count as tractors – Tilly goes nuts. And Lord save us all if that tractor also happens to be blue.
And the great thing is that Tilly can be a tractor driver when she grows up. She can – I so so hope – be absolutely anything she wants. Tractor driver, doctor, social worker, lawyer, humanitarian, princess (Prince Harry is bound to still be single in 20 years), anything. It’s not always easy getting the jobs we want (we’re coming for you, board rooms everywhere), but women can really, really now be anything they want to be.
BUT YO, YOU WILL STILL BE ASKED ABOUT MAKE-UP AND BEING SINGLE.
Last week it was announced that a six-strong team of Russian astronauts will be entering a mock spaceship in Moscow, to prepare themselves for a trip to the actual moon in 2029. And did I mention all six of these astronauts are women? Badass, amazing women aged between 22 and 34. Smart, cool experts in biophysics, psychology and medicine. Incredible human beings who will be conducting a series of 30 experiments during their simulated flight to the moon and back.
So of course, everyone at the press conference asked them how they would ‘cope’ without men and makeup for those eight days.
The astronauts’ answers surprised me because they weren’t just a series of telling people to bleeping go bleep themselves, but the women did give over some world class sarcasm. Particularly Anna Russmaul, who, when asked about her hair, replied, ‘I don’t know how we’ll survive without shampoo. Because even in this situation, we really want to stay looking pretty.’ And when asked about being without – GASP – men for sooo long, she replied wearily, ‘[We] are not concerned there won't be any men in their crew. We are here to do our job and we don't have time to think about men.’
Pretty sad that needed clarifying, but even more depressing comments came from the experiment’s scientific director, Sergei Ponomarev. He told the assembled press, ‘It will be interesting to see how well they get on with each other, and how well they are able to perform tasks. We believe women might not only be no worse than men at performing certain tasks in space, but actually better.’ Ah shucks, Sergei, no worse than men? Maybe BETTER? That is so generous of you.
If that wasn’t upsetting enough, the director of Moscow’s Institute of Biomedical Problems, where the experiment is taking place, reportedly said to the women, ‘I'd like to wish you a lack of conflicts, even though they say that in one kitchen, two housewives find it hard to live together.’
I don’t even… I can’t.
The point seems to be, that however high you climb up whatever ladder you’re into climbing, you will always be ‘only’ a woman. You will only be the sum of your female, lipstick-y parts. You can try, but the best you will be able to achieve will be someday matching men. Gosh darnit, some pretty little thing might even luck out and do better. CAN YOU EVEN IMAGINE SUCH A THING.
It’s clear that we can fight as hard as we want to get the jobs, but attitudes urgently need to change if we’re to progress any further. And I need it to happen before Tilly gets to 18. I need her to be asked real questions about her career, like, ‘Can you fix a tractor engine?’ and ‘Do you understand that tractor driver isn’t a real job, are you saying you’re a farmer?’ And not stupid questions about how she copes wearing heels on that big machine. Enough of that now.