The Feminist Movement... Really?!

Yes! I say it out loud! It’s crap! For real. And I’ll tell you why in my humble opinion. It’s a real shame that in 2020 women still have to fight to be treated equally. To have the same rights, salaries or just to be taken seriously. Really!?!?

It’s a shame. There should not even be the question about it. It should be normal. Everywhere. 

I’m father of an 8 year old daughter. She is a feminist in her soul. Maybe her mother (who is from Guadeloupe - Matrifocal - The women are mostly in charge there) or her aunt (who is a leading force of the Fribourg feminist movement) are some of the reasons why. 

Honestly I think there shouldn’t even be a discussion about such topics. They should not exist. But they do and will continue to exist until minds and underlying structures are changed. That’s where the hard part lies. It will come down to a lot of preaching, crusading and discussing. Big brands are taking their stand now. Like Nike in their latest ad which dropped on the 8th of march (Women's day).

It’s funny, but we had a meeting with a brand several weeks ago, were we pitched more or less exactly that storyline... just a bit deeper. But the brand was not ready to take such a stand. 

It still baffles me that they did not see the potential!

Now is the time to speak out loud. To take position and fight for your rights. 

But what dazzles me the most is that we make major mistakes way before all of this can and is happening. Recently I saw this TED Talk. If you have the time, watch it. It’s worth it. 

If you don’t have the time, here is the main message summarized:

As soon as kids are born, there are 2 different ways of educating them (To be fair, there are millions of ways but for the sake of a summary we break it down to 2 ;)).

The boys are sent on the playground with words of encouragement: Go for it! Climb, jump, fight! Don’t worry... if you hurt yourself it will make you stronger... etc.

The girls.... well... it’s more like: Go but please take care. Don’t hurt yourself... etc. 

I realized that I’m the same. I don’t want my daughter to get hurt. In any way. I’m protecting her. I mean that’s what a father is supposed to do! Right! I’m actually hurting her... for her future.  If she would have been a boy, I would have been different. It’s something I wasn’t aware of. 

That TED Talk changed my vision and the way I talk and encourage her. 

Recently she came home. Very sad. Almost crying. So we asked her what has happened. The boys were playing with some beyblades (Spinning tops). My Daughter has her own. But they didn’t want her to play with them. 

You know... it’s not for girls. So you can’t play with us.

So instead of talking to the boys and lecturing them, we bought her the big beyblade stadium to play with the beyblades (knowing that none of the boys had the stadium). She took it to school and guess what. All the boys wanted to play with her. Mission accomplished. She is also killing it at Mario Cart (won the internal tournament) and talks with the boys on the same level on gaming and other topics. 

Long story short: She is accepted by the boys as equal. She has the same skills and knowledge as them. BUT... and there is always a but: She had to prove herself. Hopefully in the near future there is no need anymore to prove them wrong. Please don’t get me wrong. There will always be situations where we will and must prove ourself. But let it be skills or knowledge not gender, race or social status. I know it’s a dream right now. But I dare to dream. And by changing my own behavior towards my daughter the first step is taken. 

But there are many more to come. Not only by men… also by women. When my daughter chose a new sweater in the boys department of a well known retail store, the young saleswoman at the counter asked if she should wrap it as a gift...as its a boys sweater. When she replied that it was for her, the cashier showed her the way to the girls department.

Really?!

We as parents have the duty to shape and change the present for the future of our kids. If we do everything we can to eliminate any differences from the young age on, it won’t even be a question when they are grown ups and in charge. 

As I’m working in storytelling and marketing, I strongly believe that it’s our duty to change and shape human perception for a better future of humanity. We can do so by clever storytelling and marketing but for that you need guts (or balls). But that’s an other blog I have written. 

Back to the main title: Yes, it’s crap that we need a feminist movement to make shifts in our culture. It’s crap that in 2020 there is still need for this. The feminist movement itself is great! As we need a shakeup to make change happen. It will happen and it will be a great story to tell as there will be an irreversible change in society. And you know... every great story has a big change in it. No change... no story.

PS:

If you are questioning the main image from that article... see it this way: The situation is a pile of shit, and the feminist movement is digging its way out of it.

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Cheerio!!!