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A day after the National Post reported about the controversy over a government of Canada website to promote girls in science, the page has been drastically altered and no longer specifically mentions girls or uses images of kittens or fashion as promotional gimmicks.

The original campaign (which was at this link) used selfies, kittens and fashion to entice young girls to pursue jobs in science, technology, engineering and math, the so-called STEM fields. Science Minister Kirsty Duncan launched the effort, called Choose Science, on Feb. 11 to mark the International Day for Women and Girls in Science. In addition to social media, the campaign includes a slick website, with resources for parents, teachers and girls to help address the persistent gap of women in those fields.

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But Thursday morning, the website no longer mentioned girls in particular and the wide-eyed tabby had been removed, as were references to how science relates to fashion. Even the link to the “for girls” section had been removed from the Choose Science landing page.

At first blush, the campaign sounded innocuous, until some noticed the page relied on gender stereotypes by using cute animal photos and fashion. The original page also proclaimed “A career in STEM doesn’t mean spending your life in science class,” which some female scientists took issue with.

Now that line is gone, as is an image addressed to girls and proclaiming “Science: it’s not what you think it is.”

A date at the bottom of the web page shows it was updated on Feb. 15, the same day the Post reported about the controversy.

The suggestion that girls would only be enticed into the fields of science and technology by showing their softer side or because it wasn’t as difficult as it seemed prompted fierce backlash since the campaign launch.