Use your privilege to open the fucking door (March 8th 2020)

There are some amazing events on in Liverpool and beyond to celebrate International Women’s Day.

The origins of this day is around protests for improved garment workers rights, its about fighting against the government and big business and the status quo.

It is about “difficult” women who aren’t always popular because they are before their time asking questions people don’t want to hear.

It is about opening FUCKING doors for people who will never get an invite to the places we are already in …

My call and my commitment is to use the privilege I have to leverage the fucking doors open for women who don’t have the access that I and others might have to certain platforms.

I say let us put down the self congratulatory bottles of Champagne and walk out of the patriarchal glitzy awards ceremonies and rip up the lists of which women are the 100 most successful, beautiful, visible, business women, high achievers, blah blah blah …

and look to who isn’t on the list ….

look to the magical women in the margins…

lets step off the bloody platform and give it over to the incredible women who will never be invited to the party…

They won’t be invited …because they somehow don’t look right, are too fat, too old, don’t say the right things, don’t scratch the right backs, because they are difficult, edgy, don’t play the game, ask too may questions, can’t be neatly packaged into a shiny role model, maybe they are poor, unpredictable, unpopular, queer but not in a trendy way, vulnerable in a real messy but not in a Brene Brown academic bookish kind of way…

lets hear their voices and see their faces …

Facebook showed me pictures of shiny women at Women’s Day Events held over the last few days and in many cases they were groups of … young, thin, blonde, white, straight, able bodied, cis women smiling at the camera….

add glass of champagne in hand,

look attractive,

smile,

say cheese

and click !

I long to see a different picture …

Originally published March 8th 2020 (International Women’s Day)