Which brings us up to the second side of the problem. How space became so unchic. Space isn’t what it was And while that lasted for some time, still retaining her chic-icon status throughout the 70s and the 80s, the glamour eventually wore off. Fast forward to the 17th Century - until this point, ‘to pink’ was a verb meaning ‘to ruffle an edge’, and to be ‘pink-eyed’ meant to have small eyes that appear half-closed. It’s thought that the noun pink came after the Dianthus flower, after its frayed edges and not its bright pink colour. Still, it entered the English language as a colour name, and then trendsetters such as Madame le Pompadour (a member of the royal French court) popularised pink fashion in the 1700s. Barbie is partnering with the European Space Agency and it's only European female astronaut in an effort to inspire young girls to pursue careers in space and STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics). The result is that today, 40 years later, our cultural image of Barbie is still exclusively a tall white blonde woman with a waist that shouldn’t be able to physically support the torso of an adult human. An undiverse vision of womanhood that seems designed with the male gaze in mind isn’t exactly the 2022 version of feminism. And the girlboss qualities seem quite #hustleculture now you mention it.

She hopes the doll, which has been videoed floating at zero gravity like she will be at the space station, can inspire young people. As part of the programme, educational resources are also being made available to spotlight different space careers, and teach primary school-aged children more about space. And just as with Barbie and the sexual revolution, the 60s was a period of hopefulness and growth. Massive investment in space travel made sense. The world was heading toward the future with open arms. Before you get your pitchforks out because we here at Euronews Culture are trying to dampen an altogether quite sweet moment, we did say it was sweet. It is. But, frankly, it’s a galaxy away from being chic.Space was about as chic as a thing could get in the 60s. The space race between the US and the USSR was a great distraction from the potential nuclear war that could start any moment. Ruth Handler was steadfast in making sure Barbie was a grown-up doll with a grown-up figure so girls could imagine their own futures at a time when women’s career options were limited. Space travel isn't exactly the top priority for the extinction rebellion lot, to put it simply. Until you can take a public transport bus to the ISS, it’s hardly going to be an environmentally conscious form of travel.

As a Deep Space Exploration Scientist in the Human and Robotic Exploration Directorate, she works on a number of astrobiology experiments destined for the International Space Station. Cristoforetti is the first European female commander of the ISS and the Barbie was designed to look like her as part of a joint effort with the European Space Agency (ESA) to inspire the next generation of space travellers. It's not so much about forcing girls into STEM. I think this is all about giving young girls the choice of knowing what they want to do in life and knowing what is open to them.Billionaires were only chic in the 90s when Donald Trump was weirdly a cultural icon still. And anything the desperate-for-attention Elon Musk does is de facto un-chic. Secondly, if you thought it was un-chic when you heard about the way celebs like Kendal Jenner and Taylor Swift use their private jets, I have bad news for you about space travel. And third and finally, the chicness of a thing is defined by its adherents. So who likes space travel? Dr Caplin, who joined the ESA as a research fellow at the age of 28, said she believes encouraging young people is mainly about choice.