Millie Dresselhaus, the new Kim K

In General Electric`s commercial ad “What If Millie Dresselhaus, Female Scientist, Was Treated Like a Celebrity,” it shows how different the world could be if we, as a society, put influential and important people in the limelight rather than singers, actors, and reality TV stars. It is focused around Millie Dresselhaus, the first female Institute Professor or “distinguished professor” at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It portrays scenes of kids receiving a Millie Dresselhaus doll, dressing up as Mille for Halloween, having a Millie emoji, and even Millie becoming a popular baby name in the hospital.

The caption GE provided with the video was “At GE, we’re not just imagining a world where brilliant women are the stars- we’re helping create it.” General Electric has a goal of employing 20,000 women in technical roles by 2020. In addition, they want the starting positions in GE to be 50% male and 50% female. They end the video with a hashtag #BalanceTheEquation. This hashtag serves as a call to action. Its purpose is to start and spread the conversation about closing the gender gap in the technical industry. They want to provide a role model for young girls, to show them that jobs in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) are not just for men. And who better portray this then the first woman to win the National Medal of Science in Engineering.

While showing this alternate reality, it provokes images that we can relate to today, just with different faces. Because in our current reality, kids beg for toys of Taylor Swift, dress up as the Kardashians, use “Kim K” emojis, and name their babies Katniss. So this ad is not simply about feminism and female empowerment but about redirecting pop culture. Rather than surrounding people with images and news about celebrities, surround people (especially young girls) with images and news about women who show just how much one girl can achieve. We never see female doctors, scientists, and engineers featured all over the media. Showing these images would be a great way to empower girls and show them what is possible.

In making this ad, GE wants to not only encourage thischange but also show how they plan on contributing to it. Even if what they are doing is money driven, it will positively impact a generation of young girls who will have role models that look like them. But it isn’t entirely centered on making role models for young girls, it suggests a change in the rhetoric of current pop culture. In the ad, paparazzi follows Millie around, boys run up and ask to take a photo with her, and her lectures are full of people. As a society, we need to stop idealizing celebrities and instead start paying attention to those who are truly changing and evolving the world we live in. These are the people our future depends on and very rarely do they receive acknowledgment outside of the scientific community.

It is time to change what we as a society value. When pop culture acknowledges the contribution of female scientists, they will begin to receive the respect they deserve. And young girls will see these scientists and want to grow up to be like them. People will begin to realize that beauty and athletic ability should not outshine life-changing scientific achievement. Because these scientists are the ones who are truly impacting the world and the lives of its citizens.

This ad was run during the 2017 Oscar awards, thus reaching a large audience. As advertisement, I think it is successful because it is very thought provoking. The alternate way it shows is not so far off from the world we live in now. The only thing that changes is the person we revere.