Feminism: It's For Everyone

Over the past couple of years feminism and the movement against negative inequalities has come to the forefront of our minds, conversations and screens. Actresses, actors, musicians & personalities are talking more openly about feminism, what it is and more so, what it should be in our society. 2016 was a year many people talked about liberation and equality, but also a year when many thought they had to talk about this. Can you be a feminist without taking action or having extreme views, of course! Whether you are just discovering your passion for gender equality or you are a fully fledged feminist, feminism is for everyone.

After talking to other people and through my own past experiences and thoughts I feel like being interested and classing yourself as a feminist is becoming increasingly exclusive and hard to talk about in social situations without knowing a number of significant background stats and facts.

Spreading The Word

Along with Bournemouth and Southampton University Feminist Societies, I took part in a feminism march promoting anti-violence towards women and safety at night, bringing people together who share similar views about women’s rights. We were about 200 strong and after listening to some very impressive and inspiring talks we walked the streets of Southampton with placards, passion and positive messages. It was a great event and extremely empowering to be a part of. The overwhelming feeling I received during and after the event was how in[if gte vml 1]><v:shapetype id="_x0000_t75" coordsize="21600,21600" o:spt="75" o:preferrelative="t" path="m@4@5l@4@11@9@11@9@5xe" filled="f" stroked="f"> <v:stroke joinstyle="miter"></v:stroke> <v:formulas> <v:f eqn="if lineDrawn pixelLineWidth 0"></v:f> <v:f eqn="sum @0 1 0"></v:f> <v:f eqn="sum 0 0 @1"></v:f> <v:f eqn="prod @2 1 2"></v:f> <v:f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelWidth"></v:f> <v:f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelHeight"></v:f> <v:f eqn="sum @0 0 1"></v:f> <v:f eqn="prod @6 1 2"></v:f> <v:f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelWidth"></v:f> <v:f eqn="sum @8 21600 0"></v:f> <v:f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelHeight"></v:f> <v:f eqn="sum @10 21600 0"></v:f> </v:formulas> <v:path o:extrusionok="f" gradientshapeok="t" o:connecttype="rect"></v:path> <o:lock v:ext="edit" aspectratio="t"></o:lock> </v:shapetype><v:shape id="officeArt_x0020_object" o:spid="_x0000_s1028" type="#_x0000_t75" style='position:absolute;margin-left:415.55pt;margin-top:506.4pt; width:150.9pt;height:188.5pt;z-index:251659264;visibility:visible; mso-wrap-style:square;mso-wrap-distance-left:12pt;mso-wrap-distance-top:12pt; mso-wrap-distance-right:12pt;mso-wrap-distance-bottom:12pt; mso-position-horizontal:absolute;mso-position-horizontal-relative:page; mso-position-vertical:absolute;mso-position-vertical-relative:page' wrapcoords="0 0 0 21595 21598 21595 21598 0 0 0" strokeweight="1pt"> <v:stroke miterlimit="4"></v:stroke> <v:imagedata src="file:///C:\Users\Clare\AppData\Local\Temp\msohtmlclip1\01\clip_image001.jpg" o:title=""></v:imagedata> <w:wrap type="through" anchorx="page" anchory="page"></w:wrap> </v:shape><![endif][if !vml][endif]clusive and friendly the evening and environment I had entered was. There was never a moment of inferiority or pressure, only excitement and community spirit, as well as the importance of doing something for those in danger and living in fear.

Inspiration

I am an absolute Happy Potter boff, and geekily still follow the lives of the Hogwarts crew. Most of them are pursuing

theatre and acting careers, however there are a couple who have caught people’s attention in recent years. I am sure you are all aware of Emma Watsons’ campaign, HeForShe, and work with the United Nations, allowing her to give s

peeches and promote women rights and the important role of boys and men in feminism. However, Bonnie Wright (aka. Ginny Weasely) is quietly doing her own thing with fellow creative minds, Nitsa Citrine and Tasya van Ree, celebrating women for their drive, power and influence in art. Women With Superpowers is an Instagram, micro-blog and campaign sharing stories of incredibly powerful women, telling you a little bit about them, but mainly leaving it up to the reader to brows and dig deeper at their own discretion. I was really drawn to this because of the interesting and thought provoking work Nitsa and Tasya are doing, but also because of the way in which they want their viewers to digest this information. The content is made available to us in a very accessible and inviting way, not forcing us to have an opinion, merely making us aware and sharing this positive work.

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<table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 width="100%"> <tr> <td><![endif]> <div> <p class=Body style='line-height:120%'><span lang=EN-US><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class=Body style='line-height:120%'><span lang=EN-US style='font-size: 16.0pt;line-height:120%'>“Pro-gender equality,<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class=Body style='line-height:120%'><span lang=EN-US style='font-size: 16.0pt;line-height:120%'><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>but not a feminist”</span><span lang=EN-US><o:p></o:p></span></p> </div> <![if !mso]></td> </tr> </table> <![endif]></v:textbox> <w:wrap type="through" anchorx="margin" anchory="line"></w:wrap> </v:rect><![endif][if !vml][endif]

Keshav Bhatt and Sherin Shah spoke about openly voicing your opinions about feminism in the latest podcast from Revolution Hive. Revolution Hive is an education hub in Birmingham offering workshops and training to young people. The podcast, “Gender & Being The Lone Voice Of Reason”, is a really interesting listen, breaking down terms surrounding feminism and how society can hold people back, especially young men and women, from coming to terms and accepting that they are a ‘feminist’. Sherin Shah, the Director of Education & Development at Revolution Hive made reference to Jennifer Siebel Newsom’s filmThe Mark You Liv[if gte vml 1]><v:shape id="_x0000_s1026" type="#_x0000_t75" style='position:absolute;margin-left:368.45pt;margin-top:255.7pt; width:183.95pt;height:183.95pt;z-index:251660288;visibility:visible; mso-wrap-style:square;mso-wrap-distance-left:12pt;mso-wrap-distance-top:12pt; mso-wrap-distance-right:12pt;mso-wrap-distance-bottom:12pt; mso-position-horizontal:absolute;mso-position-horizontal-relative:page; mso-position-vertical:absolute;mso-position-vertical-relative:page' wrapcoords="-6 0 -6 21598 21592 21598 21592 0 -6 0" strokeweight="1pt"> <v:stroke miterlimit="4"></v:stroke> <v:imagedata src="file:///C:\Users\Clare\AppData\Local\Temp\msohtmlclip1\01\clip_image004.jpg" o:title=""></v:imagedata> <w:wrap type="through" anchorx="page" anchory="page"></w:wrap> </v:shape><![endif][if !vml][endif]e In. It is a documentary set in the United States about hyper-masculinity and the over use of the term ‘man up’ can have detrimental effects on young boys and men. The documentary is available to steam on Netflix and information about another film by the same director, Miss Representation, can be found on The Representation Prject’s website.​

Empowerment

This blog post was created to empower it’s readers to be empowered themselves. If you have an opportunity take it, and if you have been thinking of doing something for a while, do it! So this January, make empowerment your month’s resolution, be radical, and share what you are doing - empower others!

#feminism #inspiration #gender #equality #harrypotter #empowerment