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Talking Gender

Although social media can sometimes feel like an echo chamber, our lives are not. We all know lots of people who we might not always see eye-to-eye with on issues about gender, race, sexuality, and disability. And so, we all have the power to challenge these ideas with people who know and love us – change one person's mind to change a culture. Whether that is through open conversations or by forwarding a link to an article or video.

We know these conversations are difficult so we’re hoping with these resources we can all feel more confident having them!

So, it’s about starting arguments?

This isn’t about getting in every argument you can, shouting at your grandma, and aggressively disagreeing with co-workers! It is about resourcing ourselves for the conversations that do come up, and feeling confident when we want to bring them up.

Do I have to challenge every problematic thing I hear?

Of course not.

You might be in a rush, you might be tired, you might have already had that exact conversation with that person about that thing they keep saying, you might not feel safe in that situation to speak out, you might be worried about being labelled an Social Justice Warrior, or an Angry Black Woman.

We have all sidestepped awkward conversations with family members, co-workers, and friends.

This isn’t about starting a discussion every time you hear someone say something problematic. We want to help you feel more confident having a discussion if you chose to.

When I do want to have these conversations, how do I start?

The first resources we have for you in this series are all about how to start these sorts of conversations.

Kassia Binkowski’s blog - How to broach feminism with the unconvinced

Jennifer L. Pozner’s blog - How To Talk About Racism, Sexism And Bigotry With Your Friends And Family

What can you do?

1. Start #TalkingGender – use our guides and myth busters to have conversations with family, friends, colleagues, nurseries, and teachers.

2. Like, comment, and our campaign posts on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram to get more people #TalkingGender and let us know what you think!

3. Donate – Help Zero Tolerance continue to lead work in primary prevention of men’s violence against women, through tackling gender inequality.

Have we missed something?

Do you have any other strategies and tips for approaching these conversations?

If you have any useful resources or tips about how to talk to friends and family about gender, race, sexuality, and disability please just let us know – we’d love to include it here!

We are also taking pitches for #TalkingGender blogs - we want to know how you approach and experience these conversations.

Please email jo.zawadzka@zerotolerance.org.uk with any suggestions for additions or blog ideas.

 

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