When the news of Britney Spears and Sam Asghari's engagement broke, many took to social media to congratulate the couple...including Academy Award-winning actor Octavia Spencer, who said: "Make him sign a prenup." As far as jokes go, this may seem harmless - but it's not. To her credit, Octavia quickly realized that it was inappropriate - and gave us a mini-playbook in #CleanHumor apologies.
Read MoreIn progressive and social impact spaces, we often talk about our purpose in the work, but we don’t talk about what people might be losing in the course of our work. We think of all that we think they would get – Equality! Empowerment! Inclusion! Access! Rights! – but we don’t think about what they might be giving up in exchange. And sometimes, it is the things that people would lose that cause them to resist any change, even if it’s for a good thing like “equality.”
Read MoreYou are so much more than the simplistic labels others give you.
Take a look at this image. Which of them best represent who you are? Were there any items that you were taught to avoid because of stereotypes, like certain things being “girly” or “only for boys”?
So many harmful stereotypes still pervade our world, leading to oversimplifications and judgements on the basis of gender, race, sexuality, and other identities.
Read MoreThe United Nations’ 2020 Gender Social Norms Index indicates that only about half of the world’s men and women feel that both men and women make good political leaders. That’s in part due to Availability Bias - since men have historically been overrepresented in political leadership, most political leaders that people can think of are men, and people begin to associate leadership with masculinity. In other words, we often assume that the way things are is the way things should be.
Read MoreFrom the start, Bailey, Kayla, Kevin, Rylie, and Zhong Chen have been invaluable members of the genEquality team. Among other things, they've been creating original artwork, producing original video content, managing our social media, and writing blogs. Our intern cohort is truly contributing to our mission of activating equality and inclusion.
Read MoreOur language and the words we use are essential in shaping our culture and our norms. Even without us realizing it, the language we use can shape the way we think, causing us to accept a multitude of untruths. For instance, words like “firemen” or “policemen” can inadvertently lead to masculine default bias - the notion that men are the only ones who can or should hold these positions, as only men do these things. While that may have been true in the past, that language doesn’t reflect our current society or what we want our society to look like anymore. Gender neutral alternatives like “firefighter” or “police officer” are readily available, and are commonly used in many places today.
Read MoreAs we work to make the world better, diversity and inclusion has to become a major focus in organizations everywhere in order to shape our beliefs, attitudes, and goals for the better. Role models and representation really matter.
That’s the core of #SeeingIsBelieving. Who we see on Capitol Hill, in stock photos, on our cinema screens, in boardrooms and so on all shape the way we think and act, consciously and subconsciously.
The world is in a state of disequilibrium, and we're all working on finding solutions for moving forward and building back better. We know that systemic change can often seem out of our individual control, but the reality is that it's not. Every action we take, every word we say, every thought we have can influence the world around us.
Read MoreAt genEquality, equality and inclusion are not exclusive to one gender, one race, or one identity. Therefore, we always try to promote intersectionality with everything that we do. Below are some great ways to begin or continue your intersectional activism journey, using a few of our #Activations. Pick one—or a couple—and get to it!
Read MoreWhether at home, at work, in public, or in our personal lives, it's important to #ShareTheWork. Dismantling inequality isn't inconsequential; it's physical, mental, and emotional labor.
We often talk about the need to #ShareTheWork at home and equitably divide up household chores, caregiving for children, and caring for elderly family members.
Last Chrismas, I asked for Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates. It’s a brilliantly-written letter-turned-book originally composed for Coates’ adolescent son. In this letter, Coates writes about living in America as a Black male. He dives deep into the racial systems of oppression in the United States, and contemplates if one can really free themselves from the white supremacy that plagues this country. Reading this book, it was difficult for me to relate. I am not a man. I am not someone’s son. I am not Black. That’s exactly the point.
Read MoreWhether it is at work, at home, in culture, or in public, we all share the responsibility of advancing equality and inclusion. Our #ShareTheWork activation draws attention to this responsibility, and calls on everyone to share the burden of essential forms of physical, mental, emotional, and activist labor. These endeavors often go uncompensated monetarily, but are vital to the functioning of our society. We have to ask: what are the demographics of those who shoulder the burden of this unpaid, but vital, work?
Read More
