Imperial deletes tweet after ‘shirtstorm’ backlash

The clothing choice of an Imperial graduate has been extensively lambasted throughout the media in the wake of the Philae landing, the culmination of over a decade’s work. Such scrutiny was not limited to the actions of the social media team of Imperial, who removed a tweet celebrating the success of Matt Taylor once the online backlash began.

During the days immediately preceding the comet landing, the heavily tattooed Dr Matt Taylor, one of the project scientists, had become popular as a ‘gangster scientist’, but came under fire for a press conference given during the lead-up to the final landing in which he wore a printed shirt depicting a number of scantily clad women.

Imperial College (@imperialcollege) posted and later deleted a tweet describing Dr Taylor as a “proper cool scientist”.

When contacted for comment, a College spokesperson responded:

“The College regrets that the tweet included the photo of Dr Taylor used widely across the media that day. Those responsible saw a Hawaiian shirt and did not notice the detail of the design. We recognise that use of the image is inconsistent with the College’s strong commitment to equality and diversity. Following concerns raised by members of the community the tweet was deleted; it was in the College’s stream for two hours in total.”

The story trended across Twitter under the hashtags #shirtgate and #shirtstorm, polarising discussion between those who felt that the shirt was misogynistic and those defending Dr Taylor.

In the way that many internet discussions regarding feminism do, critics were accused of “over-active feminism”, as well as other more personal attacks up to and including death threats.

After the dust settled, the American Astronomical Society released statements condemning the “unacceptable abuse … directed towards the critics.” The incident has also sparked a debate concerning the attitude towards women in STEM subjects, the shirt being viewed as a case of casual sexism at the workplace.

Dr Taylor gave a tearful apology on international media, saying: “I made a big mistake and I offended many people and I am very sorry about this.”

He then went on to provide an update on Philae’s continuing progress.

Dr Taylor graduated from Imperial in 2001 with a PhD in Space Physics, before joining UCL’s Department of Space and Climate Physics, where he was appointed as a project scientist to the European Space Agency’s Cluster project.

The shirt in question was made by Elly Prizeman, a clothing manufacturer from Chelmsford, who has since been inundated with requests for copies of the shirt.

Mrs Prizeman has commented that she “didn’t expect him to wear it in the situation he did”.