To get started, I watched some TED talks as they are given by those who are experts and at the top of their fields. There is many videos which cover a wide range of topics. Listing and linking them here for future reference and commenting on them:
1. 'We should all be feminists' - by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, feminist writer. This talk was an interesting look at feminism from the perspective of another country and culture, especially as Africa can be said to be considerably behind the Western world in its developments in equality.
2. 'Violence against women - it's a men's issue' by Jackson Katz, anti-sexist activist and expert on violence and media. This talk focuses on the huge issue of violence against women - rape and domestic abuse, more specifically. He suggests that this will become less of an issue if we all do our part in making changes in attitudes - telling somebody it's not okay to make that sexist comment, etc. He makes the argument that violence against women is an issue of men, so this is a good reference for anything regarding rape culture/victim shaming & blaming. Why we need feminism: rape/domestic abuse - violence.
3. 'Why we have too few women leaders' by Sheryl Sandberg, facebook COO. She discusses why it is that there are far more men in the leadership roles of the world, and she also discusses how this can be combated. Recognizes that the change is in the next generation and this has some good statistics. Why we need feminism: Need for equality in the top of fields.
4. 'Reinventing Feminism' by Courtney Martin, activist blogger. Although I didn't find this the most helpful and informative talk as it was quite personal and more about discussing all social injustices, I did find it interesting and she made the fantastic point that we shouldn't just be feminists, we should be standing up for all social injustices also.
5. 'Feminism isn't dead, it's gone viral!' by Kat Lazo, feminist youtuber and blogger. This was one of my favourites, as in my opinion it is very important to consider the online world and social networking in feminism, as it is arguably the greatest tool in spreading the word and gaining support for causes. She discusses the power that online movements can have, and the importance of informing people. She spoke about some very interesting successful petitions and campaigns. It also directed me to several feminist websites which have led me into further research, and that I will discuss later on.
6. 'A teen just trying to figure it out' by Tavi Gevinson, then 15 now 16 editor-in-chief of Rookie online magazine. This had to be my favourite, as it was so relateable and really caught my attention. She talked about the lack of strong female characters in the media, and how one trait of supposedly 'strong characters' is often exaggerated, leaving us young women to believe that we should have that trait, or that we should be that simple. She talks about how women are made to believe that we should be un-complex and un-flawed. This largely focuses on sexism in the media, so it's a really good reference for anything regarding that. Why we need feminism: better and accurate representation in the media, and the need for universal acknowledgment that women are complex, flawed, imperfect, and that that's okay.
7. 'How movies teach manhood' by Colin Stokes. This discussed 'the bechdel test' which has three criterias: having two or more women in the film, having the women speak to each other, and having the women speak to each other about anything other than men. He discussed the need for more role-models for women in film, the need for more female protagonists and how films help in internalising sexism within men. Why we need feminism: Equal representation of men and women in the media.
8. 'The Sexy Lie' by Caroline Heldman, chair of politics department at Occidental College, a frequent commentator on radio and TV, and a contributor to Ms. Magazine. This talk is themed around debunking the excuse that 'sex sells' being the reason for objectifying women in the media. It's a very insightful talk about objectification in advertising and the media, with some shocking examples. She points out the very important fact that men are far less sexualised in advertising than women. Why we need feminism: Objectification and sexualisation of women.
9. 'Global Oppression of Women' - by Sheryl Wu Dunn, novelist who wrote 'Half the Sky' - a book investigating the oppression of women allover the world. This is an amazing talk on the struggles that women all over the world face, and her stories of oppressed women are truly shocking, really underlining the lack of and need for equality between men and women.
10. 'Everyday sexism' - by Laura Bates, founder of the EverydaySexism project. This was one of the most interesting of the talks I watched, as she discussed the normalisation of the everyday sexism that women are exposed to, and how it is wrong that both men and women have accepted these acts of everyday sexism as normality. She tells many stories of everyday sexism, but also of the success that feminist campaigning has had already. Lots of great statistics on sexism and gender inequality in many areas here, so good reference for that. Why we need feminism: Because of the way everyday sexism has been normalised.
Watching these talks led me to some websites and projects to look at, all of which I think are great resources to keep up to date with modern feminism, being well-informed and for my research. They are the following:
And finally, to finish my initial research are some statistics I have found:
- Up to 3 million women and girls across the UK experience rape, domestic violence, stalking, or other violence each year.
- On average two women a week are killed by a violent partner or ex-partner in the UK.
- Almost 1 in 3 girls have experienced unwanted sexual touching at school.
- 36% of people believe that a woman should be held wholly or partly responsible for being sexually assaulted or raped if she was drunk and 26% believe this if she was in public wearing sexy or revealing clothes.
- The full time gender pay gap is 10%[13] , and the average part-time pay gap is 34.5%.
- It is estimated that for each year a mother is absent from the workplace her future wages will reduce by 5%.
- Approximately 70% of people in national minimum wage jobs are women.
- 54% of women working part-time have been found to be ‘employed below their potential’, which amounts to 2.8 million women.
- Women make up only 17% board directors of FTSE 100 companies.
- Up to 30,000 women are sacked each year simply for being pregnant and each year an estimated 440,000 women lose out on pay or promotion as a result of pregnancy.
- It is estimated that the UK would gain up to £23 billion (the equivalent to 2% of GDP) by better harnessing women’s skills in employment.
- At least 75% of mothers have primary responsibility for childcare in the home.
- Women who work, with or without children, spend 15 hours a week on average doing chores, while men spend only five.
- Only 1 in 4 MPs is a woman and women from minority ethnic groups make up only 1.2% of MPs yet comprise 4% of the UK population.
- Women are outnumbered 5 to1 by men in the cabinet only 16% of senior ministerial posts are held by women.
- Locally, just 35% of elected councillors are women and only 13% of local authority council leaders are women.
- Just 23% of reporters on national daily newspapers in the UK are women with only 1 female editor of a national daily.
- Only 24% of news subjects (the people in the news) across global news channels are female and only 6% of stories highlight issues of gender equality or inequality.
- Research on UK media found that men typically outnumber women as ‘experts’ by 4:1 on major TV and radio programmes across channels.
- 50% of women in survey of 327 reported experience of sex discrimination in the last 5 years and 23% had experienced sexual harassment in that period.
- From ukfeminista
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