Was anyone else bothered by Katy Perry’s journey into space? If so, you’re not alone. This trip and the narrative built around it felt like false feminist rhetoric attempting to inspire and empower women. It did the opposite. What legitimately impactful things could have been done with the resources spent on this 11 minute trip into space? The entire spectacle was performative and tone deaf to real issues regarding the health of our planet.
On April 14, Blue Orbit, a space company founded by Jeff Bezos launched six women into space as what can only be described as space tourism. An estimated $28 million was spent on this quick excursion. The women’s anticipated ascent was marketed with fanfare as an empowering mission and the first space mission to send an all-women crew into space in 60 years.
Instead of focusing on innovation and empowerment, the media and the trip focused on fashion and glam, which feeds directly into negative stereotypes tied to women. In an interview with ELLE, Katy Perry shared her first thoughts when invited on this trip saying “I was like, What am I going to wear?” She went on to say in the same interview “We are going to put the “ass” in astronaut.”
Comments like these minimize and erase what little credibility women have to fight so hard to obtain and sustain. Women like Amanada Nguyen, who participated in the Blue Orbit trip, have worked so hard to achieve their goals and pursue space travel. Nguyen’s story, where she wrote a U.S. law for rape survivors and one that demonstrated perseverance and the drive of women, became overshadowed in the media by lash extension jokes and a focus on “science glam.” Of course, women should be allowed to enjoy fashion and glam. There’s nothing inherently wrong with that. It gets uncomfortable when the focus on those topics reduce women to a superficial level.
It’s abundantly clear that this “mission” wasn’t done for research or to gain knowledge about our expansive universe, but instead was treated as a recreational activity by Katy Perry that left her feeling “super connected to love.” What does that have to do with space travel? She goes on to say that “I feel really connected to that strong divine feminine right now.”
Stunts like these don’t elicit change. Once the six women reached zero gravity, they chanted “One, two, three: take up space!” I can’t speak for all women, but hearing this only makes me cringe. How about we take up space where it matters most: in politics, in positions of power and where decisions are being made. What legitimately tangible things could have been done instead with the money and resources used on this short flight? Women who can afford to recreationally visit space have a social responsibility to help women here on Earth.
With the estimated $28 million dollars, 140,000 women could have been provided with free reproductive health care. Abortion access could have been funded for 40,000 women for women in states where their rights have been taken away. Instead, the money provided an opportunity for space tourism. Space tourism is a relatively new term and practice that gives people with insane amounts of money the opportunity to visit space for their own personal amusement and not for the benefit of mankind.
If celebrities or individuals who happen to be worth hundreds of millions of dollars want to inspire change, then there are plenty of ways to do that besides engaging in space tourism. To effectively empower women, Perry could have equipped them with resources to make a substantial difference. She could have started an educational program that supports women in STEM. She could have begun a scholarship program that focuses on women studying astrophysics, engineering, mathematics or any other master’s degree required for prospective astronauts. Programs and financial support in these areas would have a greater impact on getting women to space than a publicity stunt.
Perry’s approach to space travel, the access to such an opportunity and the health of our planet was incredibly tone deaf. Perry expressed that she is flying for her daughter to inspire her to never limit her dreams. She moves on to say, “any type of person can reach their dreams — no matter your background, your ethnicity, your economic level or your education level.” Her comment suggests that her trip, which required a $150,000 deposit, is within reach, regardless of your income level. WHAT? Quick fun trips to space are not in reach for the average person. The average yearly income for a United States citizen is $66,621.80, meaning that someone would have to work and save all their money for 2.25 years just to afford the deposit, rendering space tourism out of reach for anyone but the top one percent.
Social media has been having a heyday following Katy’s statements. One TikTok user said, “Disgusting to be proud to pollute and support the risk to the environment of this kind of activity reserved to the wealthy people in need of an adrenaline rush. And then kiss the ground… you lost all my respect.” Another expressed a similar sentiment stating, “Rich people [are] flexing while the whole world below them has loads of poverty, war and outright corruption.” And someone said, “Thank you Katy Perry for doing your part in destroying the earth!”
Katy herself expressed a different approach, saying “…it’s about this wonderful world that we see right out there and appreciating it. This is all for the benefit of Earth.” What about releasing tons upon tons of nitrogen into the atmosphere is for the benefit of the Earth? Space tourism poses an even greater threat to our planet than traditional air travel with the heavily increased levels of black carbon production. Even the rockets that are presented as ‘pollution-free’ are not. Rockets release nitrogen and water vapor into the atmosphere at incredibly high volumes which has immense heating capabilities and what’s scary about this is the long-term effects of what the pollutants and emissions will do to our atmosphere, and thus, our environment is unknown.
In the end, Katy Perry’s space tourism publicity stunt is a glaring example of the disconnect between the remarkably wealthy and the lives led by the majority of the human population. What was being praised as an inspiring mission actually struck a chord as nothing but empty rhetoric and was overshadowed by superficial and tone-deaf platitudes. It is not an empowering statement for women, and humankind in general, to blow insane amounts of money for an 11-minute joyride, while the basic needs of our own planet go ignored.
Real empowerment is in access, equity and opportunity, not in empty statements about “taking up space.” If Perry and others in her position genuinely care about motivating future generations of women, they should start by investing in them — and not indulging themselves in Blue Orbit’s leisurely space visits that bring absolutely no value to anyone but themselves. I hope to see space travel continue to be a beacon of progress rather than a marker of privilege.