Marvel, Natalie Portman sponsor effort to get more girls into the sciences

Natlie Portman and Kat Dennings in Thor.

With Thor: The Dark Work on the horizon, Marvel and star Natalie Portman are launching the Ultimate Mentor Adventure to inspire more girls to explore STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) fields. Girls 14 and up are eligible to apply. UL (Underwriters Laboratories), Dolby Laboratories, National Academy of Sciences and Girl Scouts USA are also sponsoring the effort.

Portman, who reprises her role as astrophysicist Jane Foster in the film, also had some interesting things to say about female characters:

“I want them to be allowed to be weak and strong and happy and sad – human, basically. The fallacy in Hollywood is that if you’re making a ‘feminist’ story, the woman kicks ass and wins. That’s not feminist, that’s macho. A movie about a weak, vulnerable woman can be feminist if it shows a real person that we can empathize with.”

She joins a long line of Marvel ladies speaking up for variety. (via)

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