Here’s Why This Scientist Chose to Wear a Golden Sparkling Dress for a Talk at NASA
Rita King revealed that before her talk in NASA, event co-ordinators approached her and told her that a group of girls had requested that the scientist wear a sparkly dress for the event.
A famous scientist by the name of Rita J King took to Twitter to share what she found in her closet when she was busy cleaning it. It was old photographs of her dressed in a sparkling golden dress while she gave a talk in NASA. It was way back in 2011. Coupled with the old photographs she found the golden dress too which had the NASA pin still attached to it.
Rita King revealed that before her talk in NASA, event co-ordinators approached her and told her that a group of girls had requested that the scientist wear a sparkly dress for the event. This was to break stereotypes and prove to people that scientists can wear sparkly dresses too. She said, “They wanted to see a ‘sparkling geek’.”
Rita J King is a futurist and the co-director of Science House (strategic consultancy in Manhattan).
(A futurist is a type of scientist who analyzes trends, probability, data from the past and present, and a multitude of other information to postulate potential futures — and what actions to take to obtain the best possible outcome.)
She posted this on twitter:
Since then the tweet has gone viral collecting 41,000 likes and has sparked a debate. It is because the tweet sends across a strong and loud message that women can be intellectual and feminine at the same time. By dressing in a sparkling dress Rita wanted to make a point that one does not have to mandatorily dress conventionally to represent themselves as scientists. Your professional identity and your choice of a wardrobe are two different aspects of your personality.
Your dressing style does not undermine the “seriousness” of your work. Women who’ve taken up careers in male-dominated workspaces can still be feminine.
Twitter reacts:
Rita wore the dress to show the group of girls that she heard them. Speaking to Buzzfeed, Rita said that she bought the dress especially for this occasion and will never get rid of it. Speaking of the immense response to her tweet Rita King said, “I hope what they’re responding to is the idea that women have a very important role to play and we have a lot of responsibility on us. Wearing sparkles does not in any way diminish the seriousness of what we’re doing.”