Lusus Naturae - Science Wears A Lipstick

The lab where I'm currently at is predominantly female (approximately 2/3). Even though our chief PI is a man (married to a fellow scientist, with two teenage daughters), most of the PhD students are women (except for one guy, who we've made into an honorary woman just because).  This gender-proportion makes for very interesting lab dynamics, since we handle zebrafish and rodents in routine work, aside from down-and-dirty chemical biology.

So, when someone posted a leaflet (see above) about the current EU initiative on increasing the number of girls studying science, it elicited more than one raised eyebrow and some chuckles.

"Science: it's a girl thing," written (presumably) using a pink lipstick.

On one hand, my latent (belligerent) feminist aspect began to raise its hackles at the leaflet.  But nothing was broken or torn--the leaflet is still hanging in the lab.  Just because they chose to use a lipstick to denote femininity is not enough reason to go up to the level of bra-burning insanity.

Whether or not a lady scientist wears lipstick or Chapstick (or none at all) is not important--a lipstick can possibly be considered as a cultural sign of femininity, whether we like it or not. It's the quality of data and incisiveness of thought that makes a lady scientist valuable--lipstick is just incidental, even though it adds a nice visual bonus.

And besides, aren't girls performing better than boys in science exams lately around the world?