A Volunteer's Journal

Poppy O'Sullivan reports on International Women's Week

International Women's Week 2012

TCD students launch International Women's Week. 05.03.2012

Getting ready for International Women's Week - Monday 5th March
Tuesday 6th March
Wednesday 7th March
Thursday 8th March - International Women's Day!
Friday 9th March

Getting ready for International Women's Week
Monday 5th March

I am quite new to feminism. Or at least, I am quite new to realizing that I am a feminist. I would imagine that, if asked whether they were a feminist, far less would reply in the affirmative than if asked whether they believed in gender equality. Feminism is a dirty word in some respects. It conjures images of bra burning, excess body hair and a hatred of things so many women hold dear (namely men and fashion). Bra burning is a myth stemming from a protest against the Miss America Contest of 1968 in which a variety of constricting articles of female clothing were thrown in a rubbish bin. Few remember any fire taking place. This myth is indicative of problem number one with feminism; people don’t know what it is about. It is about equality of the sexes. This is a good thing. We like equality.

Problem number two with feminism is that when explained, few will deny that gender equality is desirable in a modern society. But many would say that specifically female movements are unnecessary. Why have international women’s week? Why not have international gender equality week? And this was largely my problem until quite recently. As a female student of history, feminism has a good shot of catching you in the end. I put up a good fight, but even I, a staunch believer in the ‘we-have-equal-rights-now-so-feminism-is-just-whinging’ thesis, had to concede that this was just wrong. We have women’s week rather than gender equality week for the same reason we have gay pride parades instead of sexual equality parades. It has been a male heterosexual week for a very long time. Women need recognition of their achievements, to celebrate how far they have come, to realize how much further they have still to go. Two thousand years of subordination doesn’t disappear with a right to vote. There are still plenty of countries around the world where women are not on an institutionally equal footing with men. These things need to be addressed and, certainly for me, this is what women’s week is all about. So let’s forget the old stereotypes and enjoy this week and being women or knowing women or learning about great things women do and how we can make things for women better. It’s exciting and it’s dynamic and this is not just the new-to-the-cause enthusiasm speaking!

I shall be giving a volunteer’s perspective on some of the events planned for the ensuing few days. Women’s week will be launched on Monday at 1 pm with kite flying in front square to highlight the discrimination faced by women in Afghanistan and is sure to be a visual spectacle not to be missed. A talk will be given at 6 pm in the museum building on he continued relevance of gender issues in today’s society. I hope I have inspired some of you to join me in attendance. Bra burning optional.

More information on the week’s plans: http://www.tcd.ie/equality/projects/IWD.php.
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Tuesday 6th

Women’s week was launched yesterday by the ‘fly a kite for women’s rights in Afghanistan’ event. Though for me this was mostly an exercise in dragging my kite along the cobbles, I like to think I contributed something, if only an extra body for the photo op. Adding multi coloured kites to sunny Front square was a pretty sure guarantee for an exhilarated mood and everybody was in high spirits. However mine were dampened somewhat by some of the reactions I received later while manning the DUGES stand. I was genuinely surprised at the negative comments that my new found activism was met with by my male friends. Others I spoke too experienced a similar response. ‘What about men’s week?’ was actually a question I was asked. This was doubly ignorant since this person clearly did not read my entry for Monday in which I answered this question clearly. ‘I didn’t realize you were into radical feminism’ was another. Radical feminism? I’m wearing a volunteer t-shirt sticking up some posters. What would you classify as moderate feminism?
Though I was a little taken aback by the male reaction, my women’s week zeal is now doubled. I know these people and they do not intend to be insulting, but there is an underlying attitude to women’s issues which I encountered yesterday that is not particularly pleasant. In my mind this only serves to highlight the importance of this week for the college community.

What is on Tuesday...

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Wednesday 7th March

On Tuesday I arrived at the DUGES stand to find a stack of copies of ‘Siren’, Trinity’s first publication focusing on gender-equality issues. On flicking through, I was delighted to see a short piece on the book ‘How to be a Woman’ by Caitlin Moran. Apparently I am not the only feminist-convert that can Moran can be credited with! The magazine is a fascinating read and all the articles are excellently written. I saw plenty of students clutching copies of Siren throughout the day which was wonderful to see.

I also attended a lecture given by Maryann Valiulis on women in the Irish Free State from 1922-1937, which was organized in conjunction with the History Society. Maryann spoke about the importance of gender history, a subject I find particularly fascinating. She spoke about the fact that the narrative of history has, up until incredibly recently, been incomplete. Women are completely left out of the equation. Whether you are a feminist or not, no one can deny the importance of a complete set of facts, and women are conspicuous in their absence from most historical works. This is something I come across constantly and was one of the main reasons for my feminist conversion.
Today I am particularly looking forward to two talks: that on patriarchal linguistic mechanisms during the afternoon and another on gender and the Irish financial crisis at 7 pm. The talk on linguistics is not featured on the printed schedules around college, but information can be found on the equality website. If today’s talk was anything to go by, these will definitely be worth attending!
What is on today

Thursday 8th March - International Women's Day!

My gender-issue horizons were broadened further on Wednesday by two talks which I attended. The afternoon was spent in the Phil conversation room listening to a paper reading by the Bram Stoker Paper-reading society on the gendering of language and what linguistics can tell us about societal perceptions of gender. This talk embodied much of what I have enjoyed about women’s week in Trinity; it was laid back, accessible and student led. It was light hearted, but was convincing in argument (the friend who accompanied me is now a firm proponent of the merits of a gender neutral society).
In the evening I attended a lecture by Dr Mary Murphy which sought to analyze the gendered dimension to the Irish financial crisis. What became clear was that, while it is common knowledge that the impact of the recession on a given individual is largely determined by class, gender also has a role to play. Dr Murphy emphatically stressed the point that the government from the outset adopted a coping strategy of expenditure cuts rather than increased taxation. This policy hit women more so than men. What I found interesting about this talk was the reaction from members of the audience when the floor was opened up for questions. Few in fact asked questions, but expressed their gratitude and relief that this aspect of Ireland’s economic troubles was finally being dealt with. Such an issue would never have occurred to me as something for which study and examination would be in such demand.
Since Thursday is the official International Woman’s day there are numerous events taking place. Front Square will see a giant breast cancer ribbon forming with the help of volunteers at 12. This event needs as many people as possible and I would urge anybody to come out and get involved. I will also be looking forward to the men of Trinity College ‘walking in our shoes’ (literally, donning women’s footwear) to walk around campus and raise awareness for women’s rights. Nobody wants to miss an opportunity to see that.

What is on today

Friday 9th March

Thursday was International Women’s Day and there were plenty of events happening throughout the day. The Cancer Soc breast cancer ribbon was a great success and made a bold visual impact. The DUGES stand had a banner up on which people stuck post-its stating why they were celebrating Women’s Day, with reasons ranging from Beyoncé quotes to equality in society. The highlight of the day for me was the discussion on sexual violence held in the GMB and chaired by Ivana Bacik. It was great that there was such a turnout and that the issues surrounding sexual assault, advertising and consent were discussed openly.

International Women’s week has been incredible for me. It has opened my mind to issues about gender which I never would have considered before. Volunteering has allowed me to really immerse myself in the action and to feel like I may have contributed, in some small way, to the success of the week. I would recommend anybody to do the same next year!

What is on today

About Poppy

Poppy O'Sullivan is a History student at Trinity College Dublin and has volunteered with the Equality Office for International Women's Week 2012.

Note: this article does not represent the views of the Equality Office.

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