Solutions for Gender Equality - Where Are We Now?
It’s a tough world to live in for women and marginalised groups in 2021 when we are surrounded by patriarchy, sexism and misogyny. Where feminism hasn’t reached certain parts of the world let alone gender equality. I hope this blog can become part of the conversation, signpost to where women are making waves and some action points you can take with you and share on the Gender Equality movement.
Some context - News update
The last few weeks of news affecting women have been terrifying. From Sarah Everard’s missing case and killing to Megan Markle’s interview controversy, to Atlanta’s Asian American shooting - all in between International Women’s Day and Mother’s Day. It has been a lot to process.
There have been threats to deny people’s rights to peaceful protest too in the UK, the KillTheBill protests (the image is from the Women’s March in 2019) as well as police brutality protests, and many other Women’s rights news across the globe. In Egypt, Women’s rights activist Nawal El Saadawi passed away, and in Canberra, Australia there were Enough is Enough protests against sexual assault and violence.
Over the last few weeks, there have been times I have struggled to sit and take it all in, let alone write this blog. I wanted this to offer support, hope and do justice to the women’s issues happening right now. A lot to ask of one piece, and I hope this will continue to happen beyond Skaped women’s monthly blog.
We have decided to offer two parts, here some suggestions to feel comfortable, empowered and make change for all genders. Part two blog celebrates other female artists and activists. Below are also some women’s charities you can find.
Why we need IWD day
“These days exist for a reason, for women who have been marginalised and have been treated like absolute crap. ” Thay, co-founder of Skaped
Burger King’s advert on International Women’s Day (IWD) is one example that just shows why we continue to need days for women. Here at Skaped we believe it is not a trend to jump on, it has a meaning, and we will continue to support women, non-binary, trans women whenever we can.
During our Instagram Live on IWD Thay said “I don’t want one day, I don’t want for this to have to exist for you to have to listen to what I have to say or for you to respect me and or to have a sense of appreciation”. She didn’t want that “suddenly for that one day men would suddenly be nice, they would give roses, which is something that happens a lot in Brazil.”
For me, I enjoyed this month hearing other women in Skaped team talk about women who inspire them (find these here) Also, as Oumnia said “it is a chance for reflection, In general, I feel like we are always challenging ourselves, today is a day for me to pause and see how far I’ve come and how far the women in my family have come” I feel this is equally important.
Optimism in a society of Overwhelm
Hope is something we can sometimes struggle to find when the media press seem determined to tear people down and people have unattainable expectations of a perfect life. Perfection doesn’t exist, and the opposite I’d argue is pessimism. Optimism and hope are a balance between the two, and while utopia doesn’t exist and neither does perfection, it’s important to have goals to aim for.
What are we fighting for? We are fighting for not just women but total gender equality. We are fighting for basic human rights to be met, for the UN’s sustainable development goals to be met, for justice for all races, classes, disabilities and all marginalised groups of people. We want a world where people are living without fear, stress and hate. This is powerful. Is it unrealistic?
Why do we have these goals, when right now we have a long way to go, what is this all for?
Every small amount of progress is still progress. Every small win is worth celebrating. We can inspire, celebrate and dream big because we all deserve it. Below are people and organisations fighting for us and our future.
Be aware of your rights and responsibilities
Skaped’s vision is for a world where future generations are aware of their rights and responsibilities regardless of their backgrounds or where they’ve come from.
So what exactly are young people’s rights and responsibilities?
Rights are: a moral or legal entitlement to have or do something.
Our rights include “the right to be heard and to participate in decisions, the right to protection from all forms of violence; the right to health care, education and leisure” (Children’s Rights Alliance for England) These are reflected in the United Nations’ Human Rights Act too. The movement He For She https://www.heforshe.org/en , set up by the UN, state that gender equality is a human right.
Responsibilities are: being accountable or obligated to do something
Our responsibilities may include going to school or work on time, doing your homework, looking after siblings or family members, doing housework at home. We can challenge the flawed stereotypical ideas that women and girls should be in the kitchen, don’t study science or maths, or that men aren’t allowed to cry and excepted to be tough or the rock in the family.
Specifically, our responsibilities can be different depending on your background, culture and your personal values.
Based on these, you may feel called to speak up or reach out to someone or about something. Here’s what you could do.
What can we watch and listen to and who is talking about these issues?
While researching for this article I listened to a podcast by Jameela Jamil, I Weigh with Jameela Jamil, and her interview with Jamie Loftus, I discovered so many more amazing women on the I Weigh Community website. They talk about tough issues and yet I am excited to hear more in a way I can process my overwhelm. I feel that spaces like these are important, and accessible too so that I am not shying away from complex issues like intersectionality.
Other people to look out for who talk about gender issues, Zarah Sultana MP, anti-sexism educator Jackson Katz, and group Sisters Uncut- women and gender-variant people who fight to tackle domestic, sexual, gendered, and state violence.
How can we support each other?
We can all talk to each other about how we really feel. Men don’t have to hide behind a facade, and we are breaking down barriers of toxic masculinity too (I hope!)
Confront aggression with kindness- for example by listening, body language, asking questions (understandable this will feel difficult in some situations)
Take responsibility and start a conversation- my personal tip is that it’s ok to say I don’t know how to respond, what do you think? You can find an article of a male interview panel on the Guardian website here
Also, check out this very detailed Anti-Asian Violence resource (helplines targeted at American audience) https://anti-asianviolenceresources.carrd.co/
What can we do to protect ourselves?
Self-care is thrown around a lot- but what happens when we REALLY need to talk about these issues? Here is a guide to help find balance during overwhelm, their five tips include turning off push notifications, limit time spent reading the news, and read good news- which is something I do regularly. I can highly recommend the book Factfulness, mentioned in the article, which helps put Bad News into perspective. Additionally, it’s nice to remember there are some amazing women doing vital work (see below).
Attending workshops
Skaped recently finished running a 12 week Let’s Talk Gender Equality workshop series, here’s what social media manager volunteer Victoria said about running them and on the necessary conversations they had:
“It's been my first time facilitating a workshop so there has been a major learning curve there.
I think that my biggest takeaway will be how attuned young people are to certain current debates. We had a lot of involved, in-depth discussions about factors that affect young people today, when we first started I felt a bit of disconnect when we tried to engage some of the group on how restrictive gender stereotypes had affected them. They at first seemed quite adamant that that wasn't as much a problem for their generation but as we delved deeper and more into specific issues we found more commonality.” If you are interested in attending future workshops you can sign up to our newsletter for updates and follow us on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook
Feel inspired
Check out our part two to this women’s blog all about celebrating our recommended female artists and activists, click here to find it.
Finally, I would like to end on an image, to imagine a world where women were not the butt of every joke, where women are leaders, not pushed back in the kitchen or made to do all the home-schooling and care work. Imagine the discourse where women were not victim blamed or shamed, that the responsibility was on men. There is so much more than women deserve. I hope this conversation is shifting, and this is a possible future it would do us all some good.
Full photo credit- Sarah tribute/photo by Jessica Girvan/Shutter Stock
Full photo credit- Nawal El-Saadawi/photo by Haydn
