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A number of technologists and science-lovers are beginning to use fashion to raise awareness about gender issues in the scientific fields.
See It Be It Calendar
To provide role models to the next generation of female scientists, the creators of See It Be It published a glossy calendar featuring photos of young women who work in science and mathematics.
"We wanted to introduce girls to women whom they could relate to," said energy technologist Beth Zotter, who developed the project along with designer Amanda Dowd.
Their goal is to get the attention of preteen girls by showing them know that "interest in science and tech is not incompatible with interest in fashion."
In the calendar, each month features a portrait of a scientist in her 20s or early 30s and a description of her work, challenges she has faced and her aspirations.
"We are showing women as professionals not as sex objects," Zotter said
As a young girl interested in science, Zotter doesn't remember having any female role model she could look up to. Her project is trying to fill that gap.
For the California-based creators of "Be It See It," the calendar is a "constant reminder" to young women who are interested in science that the image of the female lab technician with braces and big thick glasses is a false stereotype that belongs to the past.
Also fighting the fight against gender prejudice in science is Elly Zupko.
Her project is called STEM: Women Are All Over It - #That Other Shirt.
As its name suggests, it consists of a shirt that features black and white photos of women who made a contribution to a variety of scientific fields such as genetics, paleontology, aeronautics and biology.
But for Zupko, it is more than a shirt. "It's a cause."
"It is designed to be eye-catching and a conversation-starter," she said.
The designer got the idea for the shirt when she saw Dr. Matt Taylor talk about the Rosetta comet-probing mission in a televised interview.
The problem for Zupko wasn’t what he was saying, but what he was wearing: his “unfortunate choice of a wardrobe” featured images of scantily clad women holding guns.
Zupko, who said she’s always had a casual interest in science, took a photo of Dr. Taylor, tweaked the image and twitted it.
Tweets by Erin Brodwin and Elly Zupko
The photo went viral, she said. And what started as a “jokey reaction” became a real piece of clothing.
“Through my image, I wanted to make the point that you can celebrate women you admire through your apparel, “ she wrote on the webpage of the Kickstarter campaign. “But in the context of a great scientific achievement, how about celebrating women who have made great achievements of their own?”
People interested in the project submitted the name of their favorite fe
male scientist to Zupko’s blog. For the final selection she chose 60 women who better represented a variety of backgrounds, including professionals of different race and sexual orientation, she said.
So far 700 “other shirts” have been sold in about two months, according to the Baltimore-based entrepreneur. The project is nonprofit and, after covering the production expenses, the excess funds will go to the National Girls Collaborative Project – an association that promotes girls’ participation in the science and technology fields.
That Other Shirt, by Elly Zupko
Both Be It See It and That Other Shirt kicked off after successful Kickstarter campaigns - a strategy that is not uncommon among female STEM lovers, according to Bustle.com.
More and more women, in fact, seem to be using the crowd-funding platform to bypass the male-dominated establishment and fund their projects.