Unless you live under a rock, you probably saw a bunch of celebrities get launched into space last week. On April 14, Jeff Bezos’s space company, Blue Origin, successfully completed its 11th human space flight as part of the New Shepard program. This time, the passengers included some very notable faces such as pop star Katy Perry, broadcaster Gayle King and Bezos’ fiancee, Laura Sánchez. Other passengers included civil rights activist Amanda Nguyen, former NASA aerospace engineer Aisha Bowe and executive producer Kerianne Flynn.
This mission got a lot of media attention because it was the first all-female crew since 1963. Some people are calling it a big win for women due to representation in space.
Professor Stephanie Dance-Barnes, dean of DePaul’s College of Science and Health, highlighted the inspiration this mission could give.
“Visibility like this can spark imagination and open the door for young women to see themselves in roles they may not have considered before,” Dance-Barnes said. “That alone can have a lasting impact.”
She also raised an important point that has crossed the minds of many Americans: representation doesn’t mean much without meaningful change to back it up.
“If these efforts aim to inspire or highlight women’s contributions to science and space, they can absolutely be seen as milestones. But it’s also important that we look at the broader picture,” Dance-Barnes said. “For progress to be meaningful, it has to come with efforts to create lasting change — like improving access, increasing representation, and supporting leadership opportunities for women in these fields.”
To me, sending women — billionaires, in fact — into space isn’t inherently feminist. Absolutely, representation matters, but using space travel as the vessel feels out of touch when so many more substantial feminist issues are being ignored back on Earth. It turns feminism into a publicity stunt rather than pushing for meaningful change.
DePaul junior Jude Hollenbeck pointed to issues that the public should be a lot more focused on.
“The first thought that came to mind was abortion rights and healthcare, but we also need to protect diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives and Title IX and any legislation that prohibits discrimination based on sex/gender,” Hollenbeck said.
These issues should be garnering as much attention (if not more) than mostly unqualified women going to space — especially when all these concerns Hollenbeck states are at the forefront of American politics right now.
For one, President Donald Trump has been signing multiple executive orders aimed at restricting abortion access over the past month. For example, he has been enforcing the Hyde Amendment, which blocks federal funding for abortions.
As a result, Utah, Hawaii, Maine, Mississippi, Missouri, California and Montana clinics have all lost their Title X funding, totaling around $65 million. By doing this, access to a safe abortion has become extremely harder for women and other marginalized groups.
Along with cutting federal abortion funds, President Trump has been dismantling DEI initiatives across all federal agencies, including NASA. Just last month, NASA began quietly removing mentions of historical women from their website and physical displays in its facilities.
This has included scrubbing language that highlights goals for women astronauts, as well as taking down images and artwork promoting women in STEM. So while Katy Perry is singing “What a Wonderful World,” women scientists — who actually helped shape space exploration — are actively being removed from history.
When I see these wealthy women parading around space and calling it “trailblazing for women,” it honestly feels like a slap in the face to what the average woman is facing here on Earth this very second.
Billionaires are choosing to throw money at space tourism instead of investing in transformative grassroot organizations. Take the Chicago Women’s Health Center, a nonprofit that provides health services and education for majorly women and trans identities, for example. Each year, they provide care to over 6,000 people. The money used for this mission could have gone to help more facilities like them and others across the country.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s amazing that young girls can see themselves in these high-profile roles — especially in Aisha Bowe, who went to space for reasons other than flaunting her wealth. It’s not just about visibility, it’s also needing to see someone who genuinely reflects what some are passionate about.
But this mission reads more like a photo op of feminism than real, sustainable feminist work. If Jeff Bezos actually cared about women’s progress, he’d start by addressing the toxic work culture at Blue Origin — where reports of sexual harassment have been brushed under the rug.
We don’t need flashy, empty “firsts” for women just because we can make them happen — we need systems that keep women and marginalized people at the bottom torn down. That’s how we get one small step for women and one giant leap for humankind.
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