Kinda wishing I could watch this with soltice and pazi_ashfeather, since mockery is probably the only way I could enjoy watching it. Could very well be among the very most scientifically laughable things I've seen even including fantasy stories.

Note: Originally posted at feminist_rage

So we have a post at Bad Astronomy, where it is announced a new probe to Mars has been named Curiosity and that the name was bestowed by a sixth-grader named Clara Ma. Some of her essay was quoted:

Curiosity is an everlasting flame that burns in everyone’s mind. It makes me get out of bed in the morning and wonder what surprises life will throw at me that day. Curiosity is such a powerful force. Without it, we wouldn’t be who we are today. […] Curiosity is the passion that drives us through our everyday lives. We have become explorers and scientists with our need to ask questions and to wonder. Sure, there are many risks and dangers, but despite that, we still continue to wonder and dream and create and hope. We have discovered so much about the world, but still so little. We will never know everything there is to know, but with our burning curiosity, we have learned so much.

What do we get? Some commenter complaining that "I for one am tired of this PC campaign with cutesy names for major important science missions. Jesus, I’m surprised she didn’t call it My Pretty Pony or Hanna Montana."

What? What can he* possibly draw from that to be called cutesy, to be saying apparently on no other basis than her age and gender that she is some frivolous airhead whose every contribution is automatically worthless? It doesn't seem to me to be from the name itself, or what she wrote in favour of it, so it sure looks like he is just expressing an opinion young girls are automatically worthless, attributing to them the most devalued interests and expressions he can think of.

Later on he attributes her selection to being Asian, so at least he is being efficiently bigotted? As we all know, 'political correctness' means we favour people on the basis of gender, ethnicity etc. first and only then consider if they personally have any merit, right? That belief so far is the only way I have been able to make sense of his claims, apparently that she was selected first and we just got, what, lucky that she hadn't picked the name My Pretty Pony? Am very skeptical this would have played out the same if she had been a boy, or had a perceived masculine name, since it is so much more acceptable for a boy to be thought of as holding serious interests.

Also v. unimpressed with all the people doubting she wrote that essay herself.

*self-titled as 'man' in naming, so I feel safe in attributing gender.

Edit: Now I want to scream. Am behind on my astronomical news, catching up on reading and now seen the news on two other sites which are getting the same criticism.

"At least it wasn't named Fluffy Miss Muffybunny..... (Note: NEVER give young girls unilateral naming power over anything other than rabbits or horses....)"

"So when is NASA going to stop letting little girls and fake talk show hosts name their spacecraft?

Now I am waiting for the Hanna Montana mission to Jupiter.

Or maybe the Jonas Brothers space probe to Venus."

What are these people THINKING? That she won the competition and then got to call it whatever she wanted? How does this make sense as a criticism of her being the person to name it otherwise? I just... it seems like all people are seeing is 'young girl names Mars rover' and their minds leap straight to 'frivolous', 'obsessive' and 'irritating'.

I just hope the awesomeness of the prize makes up to her for any flak she may cop personally. Well, that and that people would stop being oppressive, bigoted arseholes.