Blue Origin’s Tone-Deaf Spectacle of Wealth in a Struggling World
By Ellie Simmers | Assistant Editor
As Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket touched back down after its brief 11-minute trip to space, Lauren Sanchez—the “leader” of the all-female crew—reflected on the view.
“Earth looked so quiet,” she said. “And you look at it, and you’re like, ‘We’re all in this together.’”
The irony of Sanchez’s statement was too hard to ignore.
When the fiancée of the second-richest man in the world boards a rocket with one of the highest-paid pop stars, a daytime television icon, a film producer, and two genuinely qualified women—all for a ride barely longer than Taylor Swift’s All Too Well (10 Minute Version)—I can’t help but feel a bit like the French people hearing the out-of-touch words of Marie Antoinette: “Let them eat cake!”
As the United States faces the rise of a fascist regime—where immigrants can be deported for speaking out against the government, federal agencies are being defunded, transgender people are being villainized (especially for playing sports), women are losing their right to bodily autonomy, the effects of climate change are catching up to us fast, and our government is funding and supporting a horrific genocide in the Middle East—the performative activism of this spaceflight is almost too much to stomach.
This flight was marketed as “empowering” for women, since it was the first all-female spaceflight since 1963. But in my eyes, this supposedly empowering experience felt more like the same old hollow spectacle we’ve seen time and again, much like one of the flight’s very own travelers, Katy Perry, and her song, “Woman’s World.”
Perry’s regressive, performative feminism anthem, produced by alleged sexual abuser Dr. Luke, is, much like the spaceflight itself, a flashy, aesthetics-based performance.
In the music video for Perry’s song, she is dressed as a “sexy” Rosie the Riveter. She features items like bedazzled power tools and monster trucks, boiling female empowerment down to making traditionally masculine items glittery and calling it a day.
I was immediately reminded of this music video when I heard Sanchez talking about the custom, designer spacesuits created for the women on this trip. Created by high-end brand Monse, Sanchez told the New York Times that these suits were designed to “bring a little spice to space.”
This idea of glam and makeup was further amplified by the media, but rather than push back against the tired stereotypes of what women should look like in space, the women leaned into it. Perry, ever the spokesperson for this kind of “feminism,” said, “Space is going to finally be glam. Let me tell you something. If I could take glam up with me, I would do that. We are going to put the ‘ass’ in astronaut.”
While I’m not against anyone wearing or presenting however they feel comfortable, the issue arises when empowerment is slapped onto every surface-level choice women make.
Wearing SKIMS under your custom designer space suit isn’t groundbreaking; it’s optics.
It packages empowerment as a luxury item to be consumed rather than fostering real, substantive change that actually challenges societal norms or breaks down systems of inequality.
While I would still be criticizing this display of entitled wealth, I would not be nearly as outraged as I am if this were not played up as the feminist event of 2025.
This flight wasn’t about uplifting women or making space more accessible; it was a dress rehearsal for desertion.
At a time when economic inequality is at an all-time high, climate change is wreaking havoc, and millions are struggling to get by, it’s hard to ignore the fact that when the planet burns, nothing will stop billionaires and celebrities from boarding rockets—leaving the rest of us behind to clean up the mess they made.
It’s a celebration of wealth and privilege, disguised as progress.
Space feels like escapism in the most literal way, from accountability, community, and Earth.
While Sánchez and her fiancé Jeff Bezos continue to brand themselves as champions of climate action, the facts tell a different story.
A 2022 study on the environmental impact of space tourism found that rocket launches produce black carbon particles that are nearly 500 times more efficient at heating the atmosphere than all surface-level and commercial airline soot emissions combined.
So while billionaires make grand statements about saving the planet, they’re also pioneering the technology to abandon it, leaving a hotter, more unstable world behind for the rest of us.
So while Perry tearfully sings “What a Wonderful World” in space and Gayle King dismisses criticisms of the luxury joyride as “haters stealing their joy,” there are real, truly empowered women fighting the issues that charlatans like Bezos, Perry, and Sanchez only pretend to care about.
Take Deja Foxx, a 23-year-old activist now running for Arizona’s 7th Congressional District. As one of the youngest presidential campaign staffers in U.S. history, Foxx has committed her career to fighting for women’s rights, economic justice, and real climate solutions.
Or Greta Thunberg, the 22-year-old climate activist who has become a global symbol for youth-led environmental action. Not only does she continue to lead climate protests, she also calls out governments and corporations complicit in the genocide in Gaza and the destruction of our planet.
And if celebrity status is supposedly required to advance movements, look to Jane Fonda, a Hollywood legend who’s been arrested multiple times for her activism from the Vietnam War to climate protests to her ongoing work on prison reform.
These are just a handful of the women leading us forward, not the ones strapping into rockets for PR stunts.
As I watched the Blue Origin New Shepard rocket launch into space, one question echoed in my mind: Who was this flight really for?
Was it for the kids who dream of being astronauts?
Was it for the everyday woman fighting to make ends meet and retain bodily autonomy?
Was it for Mother Earth?
No. It was a disgusting display of wealth, entitlement, and the commodification of feminism.
Great and authentic article!! Well written and effective in truth