It’s no accident that two of the 10 genEquality activations relate to language. Language plays such an important role in our existence; it informs and affects everything from our morning routines to our evolution as a species. Among other things, language shapes and preserves many of the beliefs that we hold dear. Given its central, ever-present role in our lives, language is also a critical tool for creating change.
Read MoreAs the end of the year approaches, so does the time for performance review conversations and written performance evaluations - not to mention office parties and holiday gatherings!
How does #MindTheAdjective relate to these events? It is twofold: our word choices shape perceptions both in ourselves and others, and our word choices prompt behavioral changes. We can positively shift our cultures and communities towards gender equality just by consciously and carefully choosing the words we use to praise, constructively criticize, describe, or introduce one another.
Happy Thanksgiving from genEquality! As we head into the holiday season - especially ahead of the big meal tomorrow - we wanted to highlight an activation that closely aligns with this time of year: #ShareTheWork.
Read MoreIn the United States, men have a suicide rate 3.5 times higher than women. Men are also more likely to die from heart disease and cancer than their female counterparts. Worldwide, 78.7% of homicide victims are male.
Yesterday, November 19th, marked International Men's Day. The celebration of this day encourages men to #Represent who they are and to defy the stereotypes that would define them
Generally speaking, gender is the only demographic identifier we use in our greetings. In our social interactions, we do not use race or ethnicity to greet others. Why do we use gender? The pitfall of using gendered language is that it unconsciously plants the seeds for beliefs and behaviors that perpetuate gender inequalities.
Read MoreWe often talk about small actions that make a big difference, and #GreetNeutrally is probably the smallest of our actions (in terms of time/cost/effort required) - and its impact is immeasurably good. A simple neutral greeting ensures inclusion of everyone in the group, reduces masculine default bias, and paves the way towards equality.
Read MoreEqual Work Equal Pay is a simplified way of stating the obvious: our gender identities do not define our wages or our investment worth. Our #EqualPlayEqualPay campaign, partly inspired by the US Women's National Team, is designed to be a meaningful way to engage community changemakers to ensure equal investment and equal pay for women and girls in sports.
Read MoreGovernment is at its best when it is truly representative of its people; this means having balanced gender representation as well as ethnic and racial representation in our government. As citizens who have the ability to participate in this democracy, we have significant power to affect this representation. This isn’t identity politics; this is democracy. A truly representative government is a pillar of democracy.
Read MoreOur country's oldest academic institutions are revered for their prestige, history, thought leadership, and concentration of collective knowledge. And yet, while walking those hallowed halls, how many of us have felt that an important perspective was blatantly missing? As we stroll through yards surrounded by buildings named after men, reading textbooks and literature predominantly written by men, it's easy to perceive that women are not equal leaders in thought, impact, and contribution. It's easy to forget that women belong.
Read MoreHumor is an important part of the human experience. Who doesn't like a good laugh? In fact, laughter has been found to help maintain a healthy heart by reducing stress hormones and increasing HDL, the "good" cholesterol.
Health aside, humor and jokes are still often rooted in sexism, racism, homophobia, and bigotry, to name a few. How often have we heard bits about women being whiny, easy, bossy, or any other combination of gender stereotypes?
genEquality activations fall into two categories: beliefs and behaviors. In the case of this week's activation, #Represent is both a mindset (belief) and form of action (behavior).
The #Represent activation is unique in that its talking points and message were co-developed with our friends at The Representation Project. We launched the activation at TRP's Youth Media Summit in 2018.
#Represent calls on you to proudly represent all of who you are. You are not defined by the stereotypes of your gender, race, class, age, sexual orientation, religion, ability, or circumstance.
At genEquality, one of our core beliefs that gender, race, religion, age, creed or any other aspect of one's identity should not impede one's ability to earn a fair wage.
That is why we are launching our Equal Play Equal Pay campaign. Inspired by the U.S. Women’s National Soccer team players, the Equal Play Equal campaign is a grassroots effort to engage everyone – especially female soccer players in high school and college – to address the problem of unequal pay and unequal investment in women’s and girl’s soccer, both in the U.S. and worldwide.
