The main events of the year that changed the lives of women
Considering with what force women-haters grit their teeth in 2014, we can safely state the obvious: feminism has come to us, feminism will remain with us and feminism will make us all happier. Talk about gender equality this year even penetrated video games, triggering a series of scandals and another stream of haitterism. But do not despair - all good ideas found their application in society at first with great difficulty, and the ability to change the world for the better for non-violently is worth a lot. We have gathered several events and trends of the outgoing year that have changed the life and perception of women around the world in the field of science, sports, pop culture and just in society.
Malala Yusufzai received the Nobel Peace Prize
We wrote about Malal last year, when no one thought that she would be the Nobel Peace Prize winner. This is a major event because of the very celebration of justice, which is always very much awaited, but can rarely be caught. It’s not that the Nobel Prize is an equal reward for the physical injuries received by Malala as a result of the struggle for education, and it is worth emphasizing that it’s not the fact that Yusufzai has a famous medal on the wall. Unfortunately, in today's world, this is practically the only way the international establishment recognizes your merits in establishing peace. This is a way to speak even louder and do more, and Malala understands this very well - after the results were announced, she told reporters: "The Nobel Peace Prize will not help me on the exam." Yusufzai is the youngest Nobel Prize laureate, but the main thing is the most obvious example of the triumph of feminism in 2014.
Beyonce - the main feminist in pop culture
Whether someone likes Beyoncé or not, but if they were given titles for feminism, then Beyonce would be the queen. Earlier this year, her essay was published in The Shriver Report, the main US collection of research and statistics on women and the wife of Arnold Schwarzenegger Maria Shriver. In her text titled “Gender Equality - It's a Myth,” Beyonce noted the difference in the incomes of women and men (in favor of men) and said that gender equality should be taught to their sons from the cradle. In April, the singer headed the top of the most influential people in the world according to TIME, and at the end of August gave a killer performance at the MTV Video Music Awards ceremony. During the performance, she stood against the huge inscription "FEMINIST" and otbebuila as much as 16 minutes - and these 16 minutes could only allow her.
Beyonce, of course, is accused of exploiting the ideas of feminism for the sake of his own career (only a fool would deny the popularity of the movement), not a very deep understanding of what feminism means in general and in violation of some principles of movement, for example, excessive objectification of his own body. However, this is how to blame pop culture that it is popular - a meaningless and ungrateful occupation. Well, Bee can say thank you for the embodiment of the idea of equality: she does what she wants, does not allow anyone to manipulate herself, earns well and has a partner who is not inferior to anything. So that we all live like that.
The most prestigious math award was first presented to a woman
Most likely, you have never heard of Mariam Mirzakhani - a lecturer at Stanford University, who received this year's Fields Prize - the equivalent of the Nobel Prize in mathematics. Mariam was born in Tehran, received a doctorate in mathematical sciences from Harvard University and now lives in the United States with her husband and daughter. The Filds Prize is awarded to mathematicians under the age of 40, who, by the standards of science, are considered to be entirely still adolescents, as an incentive for subsequent achievements. Therefore, Mirzakhani became not only the first woman to receive this award, but also the youngest mathematician, whose work on complex geometry was recognized in the world of science. As noted in the statement of the International Congress of Mathematicians, Mariam "embodies a rare combination of outstanding technical abilities, bold ambitions, promising developments and curiosity." Mirzakhani herself hopes that her reward will be able to encourage girls scientists and mathematicians.
Emma Watson conquered the UN with a gender equality speech
As soon as the UN appointed Emma Watson as a goodwill ambassador, it was clear that the actress was waiting for big things. She took the position in the most responsible way and prepared an excellent speech, addressing men and telling them that gender equality is good for them too. “I want the men to enter this struggle,” said the actress. “So that their daughters, sisters and mothers can be free from prejudice, but also so that their sons can allow themselves to be vulnerable and show their feelings - to accept those parts of themselves that they were forced to give up, and thus become a more sincere and integral version of themselves. " Excellent words, considering how many men have destroyed the appeals to always remain "strong" and not allow themselves to display emotions. Watson also noted that not only women suffer from gender stereotypes.
Although some feminists noted that Watson had no obvious adherence to voiced attitudes in her life, her speech can be considered as a great beginning of no less great things - sometimes it is worthwhile to still voice the obvious from the podium, especially if it is the UN tribune. In addition, as was rightly noted at Vanity Fair, the fact that the foundations of feminism come from the mouth of a rich white girl does not negate their meaning and necessity.
Feminists capture twitter hashtag #YesAllWomen
Not all men are sexists, rapists and perverts, but absolutely every woman can suffer from inappropriate treatment. Unfortunately, as a rule, some kind of tragedy becomes a cause for mass demonstrations on common truths, and the unification of women around the world on Twitter was no exception. At the end of May in the US, 22-year-old Roger Elliot shot three people, killed three more, and then allegedly shot himself. According to the authorities, Roger's hatred of women who had once rejected him was the cause of such an act: shortly before the tragedy, he posted a video message to YouTube to the women whose fault he was, in his opinion, remained a virgin. Moreover, Roger wrote a 141-page manifesto explaining the reasons for his action.
This incident triggered an incredible wave of activity on Twitter, where in a few days the hashtag #YesAllWomen scored two million tweets. #YesAllWomen was the answer to the meme Not All Men, stating that not all men are sexist by default. This hashtag has been in trends longer than the wedding of Kardashian and West, only proving that the need to talk about sexism has been brewing for a long time and for many is a sore point: twitter users shared their personal experiences and warned others against the daily dangers that a modern woman like on the street and at the turn of magazines.
Women conquer the sport industry
Although for Russia women in leadership positions are not news, but yesterday, they penetrate the sports industry more slowly than the top management of manufacturing companies. Moreover, in some kinds of sports, the road for women was completely closed. This year, the program of the Olympic Games first appeared ski jumping from a springboard among women, and it was decided only in 2006 to allow women to compete in this sport. It must be said that men have been competing in ski jumping from the springboard for 90 years, and women have been banned from participating because of the suggestion that during the competition they may have a womb. It is a pity that such stereotypes excluded the presence of female records in this sport, and the Olympic Games in Sochi this year showed that all the internal organs of all athletes remained in place.
Similar prejudices prevent many sports fans from playing baseball professionally, but they do not prevent them from setting records at 13 years of age. Monet Davis, a 13-year-old African-American woman, conquered the planet with her fantastic game during the Little World Series international baseball competition, and Sports Illustrated called it "Child of the Year in Sports." And finally, the most pleasant news for the inhabitants of our latitudes: the former Russian basketball player Becky Hammon became the first woman to receive a coaching position in the NBA. I must say, during her sports career, she played simultaneously in the Russian championship and the women's NBA, taking advantage of the fact that the seasons in the two leagues do not overlap, and put up with a barrage of criticism in the United States. Hammon was asked if she had received the position “because she was a woman,” she retorted: “Coach Popovich (head coach. Editor's note) made it very clear that I was hired because of my understanding of the game and qualifications. that I am a woman, no more than a coincidence. "
Laverne Cox has become the voice of transgender
In our world of flourishing homophobia, many are still not ready to accept the existence and the right to a normal life of people who consciously changed their sex. However, in 2014, transgender people got a helmsman, and, which is especially nice, this helmsman is a woman. Laverne Cox, an actress known for her role in the TV show "Orange is the hit of the season," became the first transgender actress to receive an Emmy Award and appeared on the cover of the conservative TIME magazine. Cox openly talks about his transgender African American woman’s life experience, has an educational mission and fosters tolerance in society.
Laverne is not the only one fighting for transgender rights. Janet Mock, also an African-American transgender, a writer and editor, teaches famous hosts live on how to properly interview transsexuals. In the program on CNN, she was asked a number of incorrect questions, showing that society doesn’t have any idea about who such transgender people are in principle, but she returned and taught a leading Pierce Morgan how to work. Then Mock went to visit "The Colbert Report" and "AM Tonight" and made a delightful selfie hugging Laverne Cox. I must say, the LGBT community with these two ladies was very lucky.
Women around the world openly talked about the experience of violence
It will take a long time to fight prejudice and victimization, but this year, quite unexpectedly, the society has finally begun to massively support the victims of violence, including in Russia. The wave of condemnation of the act of Marat Basharov has reached even the First Channel and the yellow press, the public regrets a member of the Goodbye Normals community, allegedly beaten by her travel mate, and in the USA finally paid attention to the problem of rape of female students in hostels.
Emma Sulkovich, a student at Columbia University, tried to force the university committee to deduct her abuser, but did not react on that side. Therefore, Sulkovich took the mattress and began to carry it with her everywhere until action was taken. This action was supported by a huge number of girls (who were themselves victims of violence or simply sympathizers), and the effect reached the presidential administration. As a result, Columbia University tightened the fight against sexual abuse and will now exclude students simply for harassment. Also at the university appeared lawyers who will help plaintiffs and defendants to participate in criminal proceedings on rape charges.
Facebook has stopped blocking photos of breastfeeding mothers
Last year, we wrote about how Facebook was forced to recognize and delete images and texts with sexist jokes of a violent nature. Soraya Chimaly was responsible for the open letter on Facebook, and she did not stop there. This time, Chimali and a group of caring activists paid attention to how Facebook constantly removes and blocks users posting photos of women who are breastfeeding. She noted that this policy shows the double standards of modern society, on the one hand, telling women what to do with their breasts, and on the other, denoting the female body as something obscene. A Facebook spokesman said the company no longer removes such photos and does not consider them "offensive." However, there is still a lot of work for the committee: Instagram constantly removes photos with bare parts of the body, without commenting on this, and Twitter just bans it.
Male celebrities become feminists, and chauvinists lose money
Ta-dam: actor Robin Tick, known for his controversial lyrics in songs about women as sole objects for what is understandable and dedicating hymns to violence to return his wife, (unexpectedly) sold his last album with a circulation of 530 copies in the first week. Such a musical catastrophe could not have happened if Tik had not participated in Q & A on Twitter, where he received a billion questions about why he, if we summarize, was such a goat and chauvinist. This is not a reason for gloating, but a statement of fact: the era of misogyny in music comes to an end and open chauvinism directly affects sales.
However, many male celebrities declare their commitment to feminism without any benefit for themselves (they already have everything), as Joseph Gordon-Levitt who has become a symbol of male feminism. At first, he simply stated that he was a feminist and explained why, and then he invited everyone to participate in the discussion about feminism by creating a video, from which they then arranged the episode for the TV show.
Comic Aziz Ansari simply outlined the problem with stereotypical thinking in the David Letterman show. "If you look at the meaning of the word" feminism "in the dictionary, then find out that it only means the same rights for men and women. It seems everyone here believes that. But the reason people don’t applaud is in a very strange using this word in our culture. " Aziz noted that now people consider feminists to be “screaming crazy”, and continued that everyone who believes in gender equality will have to answer “yes” to the question whether they are feminists, “because this is how words work”. “You can't be like“ Well, I'm a doctor who basically treats skin diseases. ”-“ Oh, so are you a dermatologist? ”-“ No, of course, this word is too aggressive! ”“ You can't explain it better.
Ellen Page has come out
Star of "Juno", "Beginning" and "Roman Adventures" Woody Allen, openly spoke about his homosexuality at the youth LGBT conference Time to Thrive. “Today I’m here because I’m gay. And maybe I’ll manage to change something. I’m so tired of hiding and tired of lies and omissions.” According to her, from the need to hide their essence for many years, "my soul, my psyche, and my relationship also suffered." In her speech, she stressed that we all live under the pressure of stereotypes and ideas of beauty and success imposed on us, and these standards, which society adheres to, for a long time put pressure on her and made her remain silent. This performance supported LGBT youth around the world and helped many people stop hating themselves and fearing their sexual orientation.
Photo: Getty Images / Fotobank (1), Shutterstock (1,2)
