Dear Netflix,<\/p>\n

I wanted to express my gratitude for the new original live-action series Project Mc\u00b2<\/a><\/strong>. As a science-loving mama to a girl, I think it is fantastic. Thank you. The show features four super smart and science-skilled girls who happen to also work for a top-secret spy organization and sends so many messages to our girls that they need to hear.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

“Yes, it’s true, women do rule the world.” was my favorite line from the first episode, but I love that the show goes beyond just girl power. It shows our kids that smart, funny, and capable are not separate realms and that they all go together. I love that it lets my daughter know that femininity and science are not mutually exclusive and that it shows her that one can absolutely be both a fashionista and physicist.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Growing up, the fact that I was a girl never seemed at odds with my love of science. As much as the small Ohio town in which I lived seemed far from what you would call “progressive,” being my gender was never a reason to not love science and I was encouraged to do as much STEM work as I could. In fact, I felt that I was letting my high school chemistry teacher down when I announced I was going to law school. (I probably should have listened to her, for numerous reasons.)<\/p>\n

Fast forward to when I signed my daughter up for a science class for preschoolers at the park district. We excitedly waited outside the classroom with a couple other moms and their sons.<\/p>\n

“What is she doing here? And why is she wearing a dress?” one boy asked.<\/p>\n

“Girls? In my science class?!” said another.<\/p>\n

The moms said nothing. I waited for them to speak up, to say that of course girls can do science, to tell their sons that science class was not a boys club, to say something<\/em>. They did not.<\/p>\n

I tried to control my rage and said, “Everyone can like science.” The silence with which that statement was met was deafening.<\/p>\n

It was then that I realized how incredibly lucky I had been that I had been raised to think that science was gender-blind and that I needed to find female science role models for my sweet, smart girl – stat. I’ve been working on that for a while now, and I had never been successful finding a show that was smart, funny, showed the way science impacts our daily lives, modeled different careers in science and made it clear that girls are awesome at science.<\/p>\n

Project Mc\u00b2 does all that.<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\nThanks, too, for casting Danica McKellar in the show as The Quail, a contact person for Innovae, an elite group of women operatives, who works with teenage spy, McKeyla. McKeyla teams up with super smart girls, Adrienne, Bryden, and Camryn, who use their science skills to help save a space launch. I was excited to see Danica McKellar, a star from my tween years, and I’m a fan of her four books for girls about math, including the great title “Kiss My Math.”)<\/p>\n

I loved being able to tell my daughter that McKellar co-authoder of a groundbreaking mathematical physics theorem which bears her name, the Chayes-McKellar-Winn Theorem<\/a>. She is a wonderful real-world example for my girl, and I loved the secret revealed about her character in the second episode.<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\nMy daughter also really likes cooking shows, so Adri, a culinary chemist, was her favorite character. Adri’s love of how science can be used to create amazing food is a great example of how the show organically weaves S.T.E.A.M. (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math) into the story line. My daughter is a girly girl, just like Adri, and I love that the show breaks the stereotype that being smart, funny, stylish and capable are mutually exclusive. When one of the characters says, “Next time we try to save the world, wear flats!” Adri responds indignantly, “I WOULD NEVER!”<\/p>\n

Thanks you, too, for working on a website<\/a> that features at-home STEAM experiments that are easy to do at home and give kids of all ages and genders a chance to have some hands-on fun with STEAM content while providing a tie in to the show.<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\nThe show has some fun merchandise as well, including lab kits as well as dolls of the characters that each include a fun STEAM experiment. I love that playing with dolls and learning about science go hand-in-hand and that girls can have fun doing both – I’m grateful to that they are not seen as mutually exclusive.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

So, Netflix, well done. Thank you for empowering our girls, making science awesome and sending the message that smart is the new cool.<\/p>\n

Sincerely,<\/p>\n

Shannan (aka Megan’s Mom)<\/em>
\nCheck out the trailer for Project MC2:<\/p>\n