menu

Science Museum ‘sexist’ brain exhibit row

Green equalities spokesperson calls for Science Museum to remove ‘sexist’ brain exhibit.

web-600

The Green Party’s equalities spokesperson for women, Sarah Cope has called on the Science Museum in London to remove an interactive exhibit called What sex is your brain which represents male and female brains in blue and pink respectively, accusing the Science Museum of “reinforcing outdated gender stereotypes.”

 

Her call comes after an image of the test was circulated on social media, prompting outrage from Twitter users.

Sarah Cope
Sarah Cope

Cope said: “It’s really disappointing to see the Science Museum reinforcing outdated gender stereotypes in this way.

“The idea of gendered brains is dubious science at best, and this kind of sexism – telling girls at a young age that they have feminine brains – is part of the reason why boys still dominate STEM subjects and less than 10% of engineers in the UK are women.

“The Science Museum can and must do better – and should take down this exhibit immediately.”

The exhibit was originally created in 2000.

On September 14 Alex Tyrrell responded to critics on the Science Museum Blog: “As a Museum we always attempt to present ideas in different ways – labels and objects but also games, animations and ‘interactives’ – and in this case the artistic licence taken in the year 2000 to create a provocative exhibit appears outdated. Certainly from preliminary work looking at the latest scientific evidence, the ideas presented are now in question.

“Social attitudes also change. We have received responses from visitors who are concerned about how we feature transgender issues, which are now very much more in the public consciousness than they were back in 2010, let alone the year 2000.

“The idea of Who am I? was always to raise questions. We present issues in ways that provoke debate, however we would never want to compromise the accuracy of the content on display.

“Of course we would like to keep all of our galleries and exhibitions up-to-date, but with many thousands of objects on show and finite resources and time this is not always possible.

“However, with an issue of such scientific and cultural importance as this we have decided it is essential that we look again at the exhibit. We are now talking to leading experts in neuroscience and clinical psychology to consider whether the latest scientific evidence warrants making changes to our exhibit.

“Science moves fast, and while it isn’t always possible for us to keep up, on some issues it is essential that we quicken our pace to make sure we haven’t been left behind.”

To view twitter comments, click here:

PREVIEW: Beth Prior brings ‘Little Acts of Kindness’ to the Green Door Store

Singer songwriter Beth Prior performs her unique set at the Green Door Store on Tuesday, September 20 as part of her Little Acts of Kindness, album launch tour.

web-600-2

Beth and her collective have been independently spreading little acts of kindness across the UK all September on the first leg of their album launch tour.

Conceived on Soul & Motown, raised on Nick Drake, Morrissey and John Martyn, these influences are given a healthy dash of Reggae & Ska, resulting in a memorable fusion skilfully realised by her all new 7-piece touring band.

There is no major label involved, fat-cat agent or publishing company, just a Crowdfunded album independently released and launched on this self-promoted tour by a cooperative of Beth’s long-standing collaborators and friends.

View the video of the first single from the album, Green Tea.


Event: Beth Prior Little Acts of Kindness, Album Launch Tour

Where: The Green Door Store, Lower Goods Yard, Brighton Train Station, Brighton BN1 4FQ

When: Tuesday, September 20

Time: 5pm

Cost: £7

To book tickets on-line, click here:


Tour Dates include:

September 19: The Fiddlers Elbow, Camden

September 20: Green Door Store, Brighton

September 21: The Full Moon, Cardiff

September 22: The Cellar, Oxford

September 23: Left Bank Bar, Bristol

September 24: Flaxivity, Shrewsbury (special hometown event)
web-600

 

X