This joke about 'slim redhead' Tim Peake sums up everything that's wrong with the media's portrayal of women

Last week Tim Peake became the first Briton to go into space in 21 years, an event that reignited everyone's childhood dream of becoming an astronaut.

Like the rest of us, Dylan Beattie from London was paying attention, but noticed something a little odd about the wall-to-wall coverage.

He told i100.co.uk:

I saw a couple of articles about how Tim Peake is apparently going to be the first person with red hair to go into space, which struck me as about the least interesting thing you could possibly comment on...

...then that phrase "slim redhead" popped into my head, which started me thinking about the vapid puff-pieces that so often get written about women when they achieve remarkable things.

Dylan was inspired to write a mocked up report on Facebook which he said was very simple to compose. He took an official Nasa portrait of Peake, and wrote the accompanying text:

This week slim redhead Tim Peake, 43, begins his mission to the International Space Station. Later, we'll be talking to father-of-two Tim, pictured here in a stunning blue flightsuit, about the challenges of raising a family whilst pursuing a successful career with the European Space Agency, and what products he's using to maintain his smooth skin and youthful complexion in the harsh artificial environment of the ISS.

Clearly, the 'ManWhoHasItAll' type post struck a chord - and Dylan was amazed when it was shared beyond his friends and comments started popping up from all over the world.

One person pointed out that he forgot to mention how old Peake's children are - or whether he felt guilty for abandoning them for six months.

Other commenters have been disappointed not to find out who designed the flight suit or which websites they can buy Peake's favourite beauty products from.

Sadly, though, Dylan's post isn't even a parody: an all-female Russian team of astronauts were asked questions such as "How will you cope without men or makeup for eight days?" during a press conference in October.

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