Vulva-Shaped Space Ships — Fun, Feminism or Future?
What does a rocket look like? Close your eyes and look at the image in front of your inner eye.
Chances are, it might look tall, round, slim, coned at the upper end.
With a bit of fantasy, one might see a resemblance to a penis.
Of course, nobody in space technology cares about that. This shape gets the job (getting stuff into space) done in the most efficient way currently known and feasible, so that’s what the engineers build.
The German group “Wer braucht Feminismus?” has decided to rally for more equality in space and therefore developed the concept you see above.
And it’s not just a drawing! Members of the organization claim that the shape is very aerodynamic and they’ve even set up a petition for everyone to sign.
With the help of the signature received, they want to convince ESA (the European equivalent to NASA) to actually build the craft.
The idea gained so much traction that host Stephen Colbert mentioned it during one of his Late Shows (feel free to check out this as well as the group’s videos down below).
After a little while, however, the group released another video in which they stated that they wanted to gain attention for their cause.
The real problems are here on Earth and more often than not, women are disproportionately highly affected by economic and social issues but underrepresented in the institutions that have been formed to deal with said issues (if they have access at all).
Side note: Feminism is actually not just about women, but about equality across all genders, ethnicities and so on.
Consequently, the group also claimed they want to “open up space for everyone”.
That’s why I signed.
Because the issues they mention are real.
Because I’m a space enthusiast.
And because as such, I believe that if we as humankind want to go into deep space, we have to do so as one united people of this planet.
Still, the question of the group’s sincerity has to be raised: I’m a German myself so let me tell you that their German name literally translates as “Who needs Feminism?” whereas in English, they call their group “What is Feminism today?”.
Two different statements.
I say we need humanity-ism. Or even broader: living being-ism.
What do you say?
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