BY
ACTIVIST, TECH ENTREPRENEUR, FOUNDER OF SPEAKABLE
It wasn’t until I got into the workplace that I realized gender equality was not a given; it was something to claim. The older I get the more I discover the depths, the more I realize sexism is a carefully architected system that might take longer than we think to truly decode; that fact alone makes me aware that I am, at twenty-nine, still a feminist with training wheels.
My feminist triggering started at twenty-three. This is likely because, up until that point, I had been in college, where girls could perform as well as or better than boys, and therefore the idea that boys were entitled to more or better things didn’t just seem ridiculous, it seemed uneconomical (which it is), and since everyone kept talking about suffragettes and Second Wave Feminism (apparently Third Wave Feminism didn’t make it to Irish schools in the 90s), I assumed that feminism was more a fact than it would be a future.
It was that same year I read an article about a fourteen-year-old girl being shot by the Taliban for advocating for her own right to go to school. This was Malala. Reading her story on the Guardian website, I was entirely outraged but I never once questioned what I could do, and as I got busy I forgot about the story and continued my day answering emails.
About an hour later, I caught myself and started to wonder: if I cared so much, why wasn’t I doing anything?
Fast-forward three years. I launched a software product called Action Button. Our goal is to close the gap between inspiration and action by connecting people to solutions in real time so they can take action in the moments that matter. My journey as a founder of a tech company has been challenging, given my only formal qualification is a master’s degree in poetry (try explaining that to venture capitalists – or anyone really). I started to discount myself, doubting whether I could pull this off, but I soldiered on with the initial help of YouTube tutorials: ‘What is Excel?’ and other topics for poets starting companies. Truthfully, I had no idea what I was in for and the odds are still against us, but I’m proud of our mission: to build a product that can integrate social action into our daily lives, mostly in response to news stories, so we can make a positive difference to those stories and an impact bigger than a hashtag every single day. Basically, we’re trying to put the ‘like’ button out of business.
So how do we, as furious feminists, take action to advance opportunities for women? Here are two ideas.
Sexism is a context through which we can understand our world, and the economic, social and political structures that govern it. Sexism is a culture. Yet somehow I often feel as though we’re at war in the dark; sexism must become visible. I believe that is our first weapon as feminists: identifying sexism, and helping others see it too. Sexism isn’t always obvious; in fact most often it’s contested. If you witnessed the 2016 US election, you’ll know how many people disagree on where, when and how sexism manifests. Let’s be honest, you probably have people in your own family who fight with you on the topic over dinner. You might yourself have unknowingly propagated a sexist attitude because of social influences – I certainly have made that mistake. Whether we’re male or female, we need the tools to identify sexism. I am persistently surprised by not only the extremity but also by the subtlety of the patriarchy. Let’s not underestimate it.
Just look at some of the ways in which sexism is cultured. This will anger you:
Sexual harassment
‘Slut’-shaming
Economic inequality
Gender wage gap
Workplace inequality
Lack of education access
Lack of sexual and reproductive health
Objectification
Domestic abuse
Lawful marital rape
Body-shaming
Unpaid care and domestic work
“SEXISM MUST BECOME VISIBLE. I BELIEVE THAT IS OUR FIRST WEAPON AS FEMINISTS: IDENTIFYING SEXISM, AND HELPING OTHERS SEE IT TOO.”
Lack of political representation
‘Likeability’
Lack of leadership positions and equal opportunity
Luxury taxes on feminine products – ‘the pink tax’
Child marriage
Female genital mutilation
Sexual slavery and prostitution
Maternal mortality
Rape and sexual violence
Gender selection
Discrimination against mothers
The list continues. A host of awful experiences with one causal source: the oppression of the female sex. How do we tackle something so insidious, contested and, at times, invisible?
I do not have the answers but my second question is: what on earth do we do?
If you’re reading this book, I’m so glad, for many reasons, but mostly because you are also searching for answers and your ideas will be better than mine. Your actions might start with giving your dad (and maybe your mum too) a feminist reading curriculum, or petitioning your university to include feminist texts in Philosophy and Civics (or pretty much any) courses. I can only speak from my own experiences. Starting my company was not a logical decision since I really didn’t know where to begin. But I did it in reaction to a story of a girl who had been braver than I could dream. Her story made me brave; I believe we’re here to do that for each other.
Sexism expresses itself in multiple forms as a chameleon to power. You might think you’re tackling one form of it as you discover the next. Malala’s story is about being threatened out of a classroom and it led me down the path of venture capital, where I was confronted with an entirely different type of discrimination I hadn’t anticipated. In the United States last year, female founders got only 2% of venture capital funding, proving there is work to be done in every industry.
Although the source of the discrimination we face is the same – the fact of our gender – the expression and effects of that discrimination can vary wildly, often based on where you live. There are female voices out there carrying testimony you might not relate to, but they can provide you with a source of hope or fury that will translate into only one thing: energy. Use it.
“THERE ARE FEMALE VOICES OUT THERE CARRYING TESTIMONY YOU MIGHT NOT RELATE TO, BUT THEY CAN PROVIDE YOU WITH A SOURCE OF HOPE OR FURY THAT WILL TRANSLATE INTO ONLY ONE THING: ENERGY. USE IT.”