'Emily's Wonder Lab' Star Is The Feminist Icon Your Kids Need
Emily Calandrelli shared a now-viral post about being a female scientist on a Netflix show
Emily Calandrelli, star and host of “Emily’s Wonder Lab” on Netflix, has a wonderful message for all the young fans of her show — and the adults, too. In a recent post on her Facebook page, Calandrelli opened up about the obstacles she’s faced as a female working in science who wants to reach a science-loving television audience.
The instantly popular Netflix show that premiered just last week almost didn’t happen, according to Calandrelli.
“For many years I pitched science shows to large science networks and was unsuccessful,” she wrote on her Facebook page. “I would receive the feedback that “the majority of our audience is male, so we just don’t know if they’d relate to a female host.”
Her show is all about Calandrelli doing science experiments with children and things they’re naturally into. She produces and hosts “Xploration Outer Space” on Fox, but wanted to do a show more geared toward children rather than adults and students. So she tried really hard to make that happen, but to no avail — until Netflix picked up “Emily’s Wonder Lab” last year.
“I filmed the entire thing 9 months pregnant,” she continued. “So there is now a female-led science show on the biggest streaming platform in the world hosted by a pregnant woman – available worldwide.”
When it comes to STEM fields and areas of interest (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math), the cards have been historically stacked against girls. These days, industries are still trying to normalize girls being interested in STEM. Data has shown that intervening early on in a young girl’s life through STEM-oriented play, experiments, and group activities is the way to go.
“The production budget of something like this is much bigger. It’s also geared toward kids… and my show on Fox, which I absolutely love, the show is more geared toward adults and students,” she tells WSAW News.
And what kid doesn’t love Netflix? Caldarelli’s show is a perfect combination of informative, exciting, silly, fun, and highly educational. It’s a smart, interactive television show about science that any child of any gender can find valuable.
Not to mention that it’s a female-led show starring a very visibly pregnant host — also something that, unfortunately, needs to be “normalized” in 2020. Women, pregnant or not, can do things. Including get kids excited about science.
“I’m just… so incredibly proud that my daughter will be able to watch this someday,” Calderelli says. “When I was studying to become an engineer, I was one of 2 or 3 women in classrooms of 50 men. I’m hoping shows like this help change that demographic for her generation.”
