Why All of Our Girls Needed #ToTheGirls
This post originally appeared on April 30, 2015 written by Shannon Miller. This was Shannon’s first post for Hashtag Feminism.
This post originally appeared on April 30, 2015 written by Shannon Miller. This was Shannon’s first post for Hashtag Feminism.
For those of us who had to navigate our preteen/teenage years without today’s wealth of social media, it might be difficult for us to imagine thousands of women from all over the world reaching out to us to show their support. On Tuesday, April 14, author Courtney Summers launched a campaign to achieve that very idea.
Summers published a call-to-action via a blog post, urging her followers to pass along words of encouragement, wisdom and positivity under the hashtag #ToTheGirls. “Take the opportunity to tell the girls you know—and the ones you don’t—that they are seen, heard and loved,” she writes. “Share advice. Be encouraging. Tell us about or thank the girls in your life who have made a difference in yours.” Her request garnered over 70,000 tweets last Tuesday as women (and a few men) offered helpful advice on confidence, body image, sex, friendship or to simply provide words of love and kindness.
This campaign comes at a critical time for the girls of today. In terms of body image, statistics released in December 2013 showed that an alarming 42% of girls between the first and third grade wanted to be thinner. Eighty-one percent of girls ten years of age feared being overweight and more than half of teenage girls were either on diets or thought they should be dieting. Thankfully there was no shortage of wise words for those who needed a quick reminder that they are worth so much more.
As of February 2015, the murders of seven transgender women have been reported in the US alone, nearly doubling the total recorded last year (a disturbing phenomenon that has not been widely covered). As the number continues to climb – and especially in the wake of Leelah Alcorn and other trans girls we’ve lost to suicide – it’s vital that the visibility of the trans/non-binary community is not only encouraged, but emphatically welcomed.
While women of color strive for basic representation in our government (only 33 women of color currently serve in Congress), educational system (see #BlackGirlsMatter), and even our entertainment, we should take the time to uplift our girls of color and assure them that we will continue to honor their significance, beauty, and agency.
And while our journey in the fight against the continued stigmatization of mental illness and disability is a long one, our unwavering advocacy is essential.
#tothegirls with social anxiety & mental illness: you are still strong, have strong beliefs, and are still able to take up space
— YA FAVE MIXED GIRL (@IDontTextBack) April 14, 2015
Courtney Summers’ effort is an example of why the continued cultivation of safe spaces for girls is necessary. As theirs (and ours) livelihoods continue to be challenged and undermined, our love and support need to be not only heard, but amplified. More importantly, that very solidarity should continue to be as inclusive as possible; for all of our girls need and deserve a thriving sisterhood.
The Root Cause of Women in STEM Problem #AddWomen
This post originally appeared on April 21, 2015 written by Aisha Springer.
This post originally appeared on April 21, 2015 written by Aisha Springer.
Last month, the American Association for University Women (AAUW) released a report, Solving the Equation, which outlines the variables that affect women’s success in computing and engineering. It is the latest in a list of studies identifying bias as the root of the lack of women in STEM and leads to the pipeline issues and “personal choices” of women who opt out. Workplaces and academic environments are made unwelcoming to women due to stereotypes and biases, resulting in isolation, loss of opportunities, and other limitations. Simply recruiting more girls into existing educational programs does not solve the problem; the environments where they learn and work need to be reformed so they can achieve a sense of belonging and purpose in their STEM careers.
AAUW held a Twitter chat to coincide with a Solving the Equation panel on the report’s release, using the hashtag #AddWomen to track the conversation. Other hashtags on the subject include #WomeninSTEM and #STEMinism.
“Lean in” feminism encourages women to break the glass ceiling of leadership in business. There is nothing inherently wrong with this; the problem is that the dominant message that each woman can “lean in” to achieve business success minimizes the role bias plays in the workplace and focuses on middle-to-upper-class white women, leaving out the women most lacking rights and representation.
Dialogue about the lack of women in STEM fields particularly suffers from this problem. While research shows that girls begin to lose interest in STEM subjects in middle school, the fact that gender and racial biases influence students through their parents, teachers, media and the culture at large, is sometimes downplayed as if this loss of interest was biological. The insidious nature of bias is that it persists into adulthood and, if left unchecked, guides our behavior, and so women working in STEM fields are subject to implicit and explicit biases every day in these predominantly white male fields.
A 2014 UC Hastings study also supports the importance of bias in women’s STEM representation. It identifies five biases that push women out of STEM fields and how they affect women differently depending on race. One of the biases, called the “tightrope,” refers to the thin line women must walk between acting in traditionally masculine or feminine ways. If a woman acts too feminine, she is seen as incompetent. If she acts too masculine, she becomes unlikable. Asian American women in particular reported feeling pressure to play a stereotypically feminine role. Black and Latina women were more likely to be seen as angry when they don’t conform to the role, reinforcing the “angry black woman” stereotype. This puts women in the position of having to defer to male colleagues and hold back to avoid being berated by superiors (an experience reported by women in the study) or suffering other consequences that limit their career growth.
The recent loss of a gender discrimination lawsuit brought by Ellen Pao against her venture capitalist former employer highlights the challenge of combating implicit bias. When it results in discrimination, it’s very difficult to prove. Prevention requires us to be constantly aware of internalized biases as they arise, which takes will and persistence. Hopefully, the publicity surrounding these studies and #EllenPao’s case creates a groundswell of support for initiatives to make white male-dominated workplaces and educational programs more welcoming to women of every race.