Sexist man asks NASA scientist if she's the receptionist there — her response quickly put him in place

When thinking of the highest stature in a professional field, how plausible it is that people imagine a woman holding the strings? While not the boss, Dr. Lauren McKeown (@mclaurenseries) takes pride in having worked with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) during her career as a planetary scientist. This valuable experience probably made her too qualified for a dating app like Hinge as a man who slid into her DMs (direct messages) mocked whether she was the receptionist at the space organization. Dr. McKeown, who is a planetary surfaces lecturer from Ireland, did not hesitate to call out the man’s blatant sexism and shared screenshots of their private messages publicly on her X. 

There are a lot of stereotypes around scientists based on how they should look and behave but the planetary scientist never had plans to comply with them. An attractive woman with an equally sophisticated intellect, Dr. McKeown bashed the guy named Mike’s joke that came in bad taste with an appropriate response. Stumbling on her profile on Hinge, the guy replied to the scientist’s Hinge prompt that read, “The dorkiest thing about me is– I worked at NASA.” He wrote, "That's cool. Wait till I tell my parents." What seemed like a fair start, it was only moments before the guy went and squandered his chance at impressing Dr. McKeown. 

Mike cracked a joke that could not have landed worse. “So what are you like, the receptionist?” he sarcastically asked, quickly following it up with another message, “Just kidding, you look reasonably smart.” He would not have imagined his comments were sexist on so many levels. The man did get what he was vying for– her attention– but in a negative way. “Smart enough to know at least, that judging a woman's intelligence based on her appearance might not be the best way to initiate conversation,” Dr. McKeown snapped back. She noted in her response, “P.S.: My mother is a primary school receptionist and is the wisest, most inspirational, and kindest person I know. So much so in fact, my PhD thesis in planetary science is dedicated to her.” 

The planetary scientist, dubbed “reasonably smart” by the troll, was smart enough to address both sides of the debate, on how women of different professions are often compared and pitted against each other to cater to the patriarchy. Dr. McKeown captioned the post, “And this, ladies and gentlemen, is why I am single.” An internet user (@KLyerta) recalled, “Girl, I feel you. A few men I have encountered in the past found out I was a Navy Veteran. Always, the first response is, ‘So, were you a nurse?’ Seriously. ‘No, I was a combat engineer.’” “Something similar has happened to me more times than I care for...and then once you express indignation, then you’re being a touch hysterical,” revealed another internet user (@jarrlene)

As always is the case, a few comments were trolling Dr. McKeown, who has a PhD in Planetary Science from Trinity College, Dublin, for not being able to take a joke, or that she may have been taking herself too seriously. “The only difference between stereotyping among men and women is that women complain about it constantly whereas men simply “man up” and accept it. The fact that women do complain so much about it is a great example of why we have a patriarchy instead of a matriarchy,” a person (@StargazerBlake), evidently infuriated, wrote in support of the sexist comment from the guy.