Action Alert | Two Big Questions You Should Think About
This week has us thinking... How do we ask better questions? Better yet, how can we create the meaningful change we seek when the situation seems daunting? We’d like to pass along some wisdom that inspired us.
How might we reframe our tactics, goals, and even how we build communities so that the rules of engagement (as we know them) are a non-factor?
Author and podcaster Lux Alptraum (@luxalptraum) closed out the month of July with a very compelling New York Times article, Women, the Game Is Rigged. It’s Time We Stop Playing by the Rules. In the article, Lux says:
Fundamentally, empowerment feminism requires a system that’s operating in good faith, one that rewards our hustle, respects our confidence and values honesty and truth. In a rigged system — one that attempts to discredit women and girls, that forces us to jump through unnecessary hoops and is more interested in discouraging us than in listening to what we have to say — working within the system no longer makes sense.
Lux provided us with something essential to consider as we engage in our advocacy and activism for gender equality.
How do we get individuals with privilege to exert the bravery required to hold each other accountable?
We’ve been thinking more about how best to hold men and individuals with privilege accountable so that growth and equality manifest. Long-lasting change occurs when everyone is aware of their responsibility to act. Often when we make individuals with privilege aware that their behavior, words, or engagements were harmful, we’re met with backlash and offense.
In the Harvard Business Review article Stop Protecting “Good Guys,” Lewiss, Johnson, Smith, and Naples state that “research suggests that men do not condone sexist behavior, but at the same time, they are reluctant to confront other men.” YIKES! They continue to remind us that the “good guy defense” gaslights women, excuses bad behavior, and relinquishes men of the charge to hold each other accountable.
Our Challenge For You
There is no quick solution to the two big questions we’re pondering this week. The change is systems change. This requires years of dedicated behavior adjustments, a growth mindset, the humility of individuals, and a restructuring of how we interact with each other across economic sectors, politics, and social life.
How can we bring people along while remaining steadfast and focused on whom our advocacy serves? Based on the inspiration we found this week, here are some very basic reminders and action steps:
Measure inequality when you see it.
Challenge each other to show up and be better, especially when it’s uncomfortable.
Understand that absurdity is not abnormality… it is the new normal.
Need more inspiration?
Follow our Fight the #Manel Twitter List of individuals and organizations dedicated to naming gender inequality when they see it. Follow the list, follow the accounts on the list, and DM us on Twitter with anyone you think we should add!
Please reread our GenderAvenger Harvard IOP intern’s blog post on Redefining Liberation in Women’s Labor: Building Inclusive, Nuanced, and Intersectional Feminist Movements. In the blog, Eden Getahun grants us grace, gives us a quick history lesson, and provides an actionable path forward.
📣🚨 Two big questions have us thinking more critically about a way forward for the #genderequality movement. Inspiration and words of wisdom this week from Lux Alptraum, Resa Lewiss, Robin Naples, David G. Smith, and W. Brad Johnson. #GenderAvenger