Women Empowerment Discussion Farai Mubaiwa Have you ever

Women Empowerment Discussion Farai Mubaiwa

Have you ever been treated differently because of your gender? SRC Women Empowerment 2016

#Alien. Activity SRC Women Empowerment 2016

Let’s talk about the role of women SRC Women Empowerment 2016

SRC Women Empowerment 2016

How do those images make you feel? Engage and report back. SRC Women Empowerment 2016

Important Definitions • Patriarchy is a social system in which males hold primary power, predominate in roles of political leadership, moral authority, social privilege and control of property; in the domain of the family, fathers or father-figures hold authority over women and children. Many patriarchal societies are also patrilineal, meaning that property and title are inherited by the male lineage. SRC Women Empowerment 2016

SRC Women Empowerment 2016

• Misogyny is the hatred or dislike of women or girls. • Hatred? Sounds harsh right? SRC Women Empowerment 2016

• Misogyny can be manifested in numerous ways, including sexual discrimination, belittling of women, violence against women, and sexual objectification of women. SRC Women Empowerment 2016

Two Aspects “Do you think that residences perpetuate any of these manifestations of misogyny? ” PATRIARCHY Belittling of Women Sexual Objectif SRC Women Empowerment 2016 ication Rape Culture

Rape Culture • Everyday Feminism: Rape Culture is everyone’s issue regardless of gender. • What does rape culture mean: Rape culture is when sexual assualt, general violence and rape is normalized, ignored and made into jokes. • This happens a lot. All the time. Every day. SRC Women Empowerment 2016

10 Examples of Rape Culture Do you feel this is perpetuated in your residence or around us? SRC Women Empowerment 2016

1. A university in Canada that allows the following student orientation chant: “Y is for your sister. O is for oh-so-tight. U is for underage. N is for no consent. G is for grab that ass. ” 2. Pop music that tells women “you know you want it” because of these “blurred lines” (of consent). 3. A judge who sentenced only 30 days in jail to a 50 -year-old man who raped a 14 -year-old girl (who later committed suicide), and defended that the girl was “older than her chronological age. ” [Rhodes] SRC Women Empowerment 2016

4. Mothers who blame girls for posting sexy selfies and leading their sons into sin, instead of talking with their sons about their responsibility for their own sexual expression. 5. Journalists who substitute the word “sex” for “rape” – as if they’re the same thing. 6. Victims not being taken seriously when they report rapes to their university campuses. . 7. Sexual assault prevention education programs that focus on women being told to take measures to prevent rape instead of men being told not to rape. SRC Women Empowerment 2016

8. Publicly defending celebrities accused of rape just because they’re celebrities and ignoring or denouncing what the victim has to say. 9. Women feeling less safe walking the streets at night than men do. 10. Rapists who refuse to acknowledge that a rape took place. Being drunk is not consent. Dancing is not consent. Clothing is not consent. No means no. SRC Women Empowerment 2016

Because society has normalized sexual violence against women, not many saw anything wrong with this. SRC Women Empowerment 2016

What does a Feminist Look Like? SRC Women Empowerment 2016

How many of you believe in equal rights for men and women? SRC Women Empowerment 2016

Beyoncé SRC Women Empowerment 2016

Benedict Cumberbatch SRC Women Empowerment 2016

Emma Watson SRC Women Empowerment 2016

Will Smith SRC Women Empowerment 2016

Lena Dunham SRC Women Empowerment 2016

Aziz Ansari SRC Women Empowerment 2016

Chimananda Ngozi Adichie “Of course I am not worried about intimidating men. The type of man who will be intimidated by me is exactly the type of man I have no interest in. ” SRC Women Empowerment 2016

What is a Feminist? • Feminists are not angry lesbians who hate men. Feminists do not believe women are better than men, or that women deserve special privileges. They do not believe women are victims. • In order to be considered a feminist, you only need to be on board with one idea: All humans, male and female, should have equal political, economic and social rights. SRC Women Empowerment 2016

A message to black women SRC Women Empowerment 2016

Intersectionality in all that you do. “The revolution will be intersectional or it will be bullshit” SRC Women Empowerment 2016

There are many different types of feminism (more than this). Third Wave Radical Liberal African Intersectional SRC Women Empowerment 2016

Do we still need Women Empowerment? • Women can vote. Women can go to school (South Africa). So why do we still need women empowerment? SRC Women Empowerment 2016

We still need Women Empowerment. • Because there is still a global 23% pay gap. • Because we teach women how to prevent rape, instead of teaching people to not view women as objects. • Because women are told that walking at night makes them an easy target. • Because decisions are still being made about our bodies. SRC Women Empowerment 2016

Is Gender Inequality directly around us? • At home: • So what do we do about it? SRC Women Empowerment 2016

Is Gender Inequality directly around us? • In University? • So what do we do about it? SRC Women Empowerment 2016

Is Gender Inequality directly around us? In the Residence? SRC Women Empowerment 2016

• Which ideas about femininity and masculinity is promoted by residence culture? • Does my residence practice slut shaming? (Male visitors, visiting men’s or women’s residences, using residence condoms) • When participating in skakels what kind of patterns do you notice? (Only heterosexual interactions, race on race interactions) • Do you think your HK are accepting of all sexualities? Do residence rules understand? • Is there a difference in safety between male and female residences? SRC Women Empowerment 2016

So how do you push for women empowerment? • • • “Gender Equality” Attend Talks or Discussions on Campus Attend Events that seek to empower women Host your own sessions Visit lecturers Read: Learn and Unlearn Have discussions with different people Always note when a woman succeeds Support one another SRC Women Empowerment 2016