"Girl" Scientists Are #DistractinglySexy

Another day, another dinosaur driven to extinction by his own actions. This one happens to have a Nobel Prize under his belt (proof that being one of science's brightest minds doesn't make you the sharpest tool in the lab).

In case you missed it, this is what Tim Hunt had to say at the World Conference of Science Journalists in South Korea:

“Let me tell you about my trouble with girls. Three things happen when they are in the lab: You fall in love with them, they fall in love with you, and when you criticize them they cry.”

There is so much wrong with those two sentences, I could write a thesis, but I'll endeavour to be concise.

The fact that Hunt uses the term "girls" is telling in itself. As is the assumption that when the opposite sex works together, it's inevitable that lust will happen, making a professional relationship impossible.

Sure, it's entirely plausible that Hunt has previously become romantically involved with colleagues in the past. Yet generalizing the fate of all professionals is just gross and incredibly patronizing to men and women alike. It's hardly an argument to keep women out of the field.

And as to the point about women being weepy hormonal messes, who can't take criticism and don't belong in 'serious' careers like Science, I have a few choice words for you, Mr Hunt, and I'm afraid they're not fit to print.

Predictably, the internet went berserk over the comments, with female scientists posting images on social media of themselves doing their jobs under the #distractinglysexy hashtag.

The backlash led Hunt to resign from his honorary position at University College London. But first he attempted to dig his way out of the hole, claiming his comments were intended to be "light-hearted, ironic."

But that's just like us "girls" to take things too seriously, isn't it?

^{Image Source: Twitter}