On Women Doing it Their Way, Rockets, and the Right to Wonder

What I saw this week—women rocketing into space—should’ve been a story of progress. A celebration. Instead? The internet served up a tired buffet of mockery. Not of the science. Not of the technology. But of the women. Their hair, their joy, their ambition.

Lauren Sánchez, Katy Perry, Gayle King, Aisha Bowe, Amanda Nguyễn—these women earned their seats. They represent something expansive, something hopeful. But we’ve become allergic to wonder. Addicted to cynicism. And it’s costing us.

Because if we can’t even celebrate a rocket launch without tearing each other down, what can we rise to?