March 8, 2022. #InternationalWomensDay. This year’s movement? #BreakTheBias
For me, dates of significance (like Black History Month, Asian Heritage Month and International Women’s Day) are reminders to do two things: Celebrate and Reflect.
Today (and every day), I celebrate the women who continue to champion change in all spaces, striving for gender equality, justice and empowerment. I celebrate the women who paved the steps for this change (far too many to name, setting us up on a solid foundation to get closer and closer to the goal). And most importantly, I celebrate and am grateful to be surrounded by strong, diverse women in my family, friends and workplace.
On this day, I also reflect on how their resiliency was born of the unjust of bias, stereotypes and discrimination faced in their every day lives, education and careers. I expand this thought to think about how the intersectionality of identities (gender, race, class, sexual orientation, physical ability), can add layers to the obstacles faced by women [intersectionality: coined Kimberlé Crenshaw in 1989].
The image below paints a picture on how social identities can support or hinder one’s own “power” and “privilege” within a Canadian context (retrieved from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, 2021). Note: different contexts and intersections can influence what constitutes a position of power).
ACTION PROMPT – as you analyze, think about: what applies to you? Who would identify with all boxes, and what is their relationship to social and political power?
Some key points to outline for #IWD2022:
- Men experience less oppression than females (think sex: biological attributes).
- Cis-men experience less oppression than cis-women (think gender identity: more complex than sex, read Gender Spectrum’s “Understanding Gender” webpage).
- Cis: a term used to describe people whose gender identity aligns with the sex they were assigned at birth.
- Cis-women experience less oppression transgender and non-binary folks.
- Trans: a term used to describe people whose gender identity and sex assigned at birth do not align.
- Non binary: a term used to describe people whose gender identity is neither exclusively woman or man or is in between or beyond both genders.
- Individuals who are racialized (Black, Indigenous, people of colour) experience more oppression than those who are white presenting.
- Within this, there is even more complexity. Black, Indigenous and people of colour have very diverse experiences, even within their own communities.
The intersectionality of these identities means that true “equality” or “justice” for gender will requires progress and the dismantling of oppression for many other areas: race, religion, immigration status, disability and more. Read “Until Black Women Are Free, None of Us Will Be Free” (2020) to further understand this.
With all of this front of mind, consider #Break(ing)TheBinary by:
1️⃣ Identifying & unlearning your own gender biases to remove the barriers they create.
- Would you trust an engineer who is a woman less than you would a man?
- Might your actions imply that the girls in your class aren’t good at STEM?
- Did you assume that Dr. Adams is a man?
2️⃣ Consider how BIPOC intersectionality results in barriers.
- A young Indigenous girl in a remote community pursuing STEM will experience different obstacles than a young white girl in an inner city community.
- Strive for safe spaces for individuals to share their experiences.
- Learn from your pears.
3️⃣ Learning more about and finding opportunities towards gender equality (and do so beyond the binary sense).
- Who is represented in your classrooms and workplace?
- Beyond who is present, who is contributing to the conversation?
- How can you help to create safe spaces for everyone to be their authentic selves?
Change beyond our personal growth is not the solution but it is certainly a start for those new in their learning. To achieve a gender just world requires actionable commitments and accountability across sectors. I found that this article, “Achieving A Gender Just World: Thought Leaders Provide Actionable Ways To Break Through Equality’s Biggest Barriers ” (2021), features powerful and visionary responses of diverse women and identifies further next steps.
With gratitude, Abbey
ABBEY RAMDEO 