I think it's less the fact that some women wear makeup and dresses than it is that a lot of the campaigns that try to appeal to girls are belittling. The European campaign's video is basically an amalgam of "science-y" things (but also a lot of makeup products?) and girls laughing together as dreamy male model scientist looks on. I think the main problem with the video is that none of the things the girls are doing seem very tangible. Sure, there are like, vague images of beakers and giant math equations, but I don't know what exactly they're doing, nor do I know if it's something I'd like!
The issue is not an imaginary dichotomy between femininity and STEM--women in these fields are doing a ton of interesting and unconventional things! We have people designing clothes with sewable electronic components, origami that moves on its own, people making tiny terrariums, kids making free video games for their friends, and so much more! For this reason I think stuff like
Maker Camp is
much more effective than a 30 second ad that tells girls it's okay to like science but doesn't give them any way to actually break into these fields. Like, I have access to a pop star telling me how to make some sweet sunglasses with some LEDs. That sort of thing that is a real, tangible experience that is totally relatable to my life, and the things I like to do (aka having sweet sunglasses). It also gives me some experience in electronics, and maybe I end up liking tricking out my clothes and accessories so much that I consider something like electrical engineering as a career! Even if I don't and end up becoming a professional underwater basket weaver, I've learned something new and had fun doing it.
Instead of marketing STEM as something we should not be ashamed of, give us opportunities to make and do things that we might not have known about or had the guts to do before due to lack of resources or experience.
haha oh man that was one long first post, sorry guys