Dressember 2014

One of the best things about interning and volunteering for IJM Australia has been getting to witness people in my community and around the world investing their time and making a difference. There's something really good about seeing people, young and old, having passion for something significant.

Over the next few months, IJM Australia is being supported by and partnering with other organisations through different campaigns and fundraisers, and there's one in particular that I'm getting ready for.

Dressember: A movement of women (or men, if they so choose) wearing dresses every day for the month of December in an effort to raise awareness of the exploitation, trafficking, and oppression of women around the world, in an effort to restore dignity to women worldwide, in an effort to construct a more positive view of femininity, and in an effort to raise enough money to see the violent oppression of women end.

I'm really passionate about freedom and equality for all women, but I'm equally passionate about helping our cultures recognise that being feminine does not make women (or men, for that matter) weak. That's why I'm so amped for Dressember; it's a fundraiser that takes two of my favorite things (the fight against the global mistreatment of women + dresses) and makes it clear that these two things - which our culture often suggests cannot coexist - are, truly, in support of each other.

It's pretty simple - we wear dresses, and our friends, families, and communities sponsor our efforts. 100% of the money raised will go to IJM Australia (or the IJM office in whichever country a participant is living) to fight against exploitation and violent oppression of women.

I've decided to participate in Dressember this year, and I'm excited to see how this experience shapes me, how it increases my awarness of the women for whom I'm advocating, how it changes my perception of beauty and strength, and how it influences the people around me.

This year, IJM Australia is asking 50 girls and women to join us for the Dressember challenge. To learn more about the vision and set up your own campaign page, visit the Dressember website. If you'd like to donate to my campaign, you can find it here. Once December rolls around, I'll be blogging through the whole thing.

Learn more. Ask questions. Be part of the conversation.

I'd love for you to join me.

Something stronger

 

"White men are human garbage and should be rounded up into camps."*

Recently, my friend Erin Riley wrote an article for the Sydney Morning Herald about the prevalence of racism, sexism, and homophobia  in AFL (that's Australian Football League, for my non-Aussie audience), and it kicked up a storm like you wouldn't believe. She's received death threats, been called names unfit to print, been told to kill herself, and dismissed as a typical, over-sensitive girl who should stay away from sports if those attitudes make her uncomfortable. 

All of this makes me furious. Erin is a kind and well-educated woman, a fierce AFL supporter, and an intelligent writer. She wrote an article that was true to the core - athletics is one of the few places in Westernised culture, or any culture for that matter, where it's often deemed acceptable to act completely unacceptably. 

I'm totally #teamErin.

So imagine my surprise when what I found most upsetting wasn't the ridiculous trolling of Erin's willingness to bring light to an undesirable and intolerable problem, but rather how people chose to support her.

"White men are human garbage and should be rounded up into camps."

"This is why men are pigs."

"F**k these knobs."

Here's where I see an even bigger problem arising. Supporting Erin in her fight for people to embrace good sportsmanship and basic human decency has turned into rallying against men altogether. And this attitude is just as unhealthy and unhelpful as an attitude that suggests being a sports fan means accepting vocal harassment and abuse.

Gender equality, and the overall progression of the human race can't stop at fighting for the voices of women to be heard. We need to include men as well. The mindset that because some men are ignorant (and some men are cruel and some men are bigots and some men will never change), all men must therefore be ignorant is dangerous, and the idea that men don't suffer from gender stereotypes is naive.

I say we fight for Erin, and for all the Erin Riley's of the world. We fight to end rape culture and slut shaming and wage gaps and the exploitation of women. But that fight doesn't have to be, and shouldn't be, against men - it has to be with men. 

And while that fight may be against some men, it isn't against all men.

Dehumanisation, no matter what form it takes, isn't okay. I've seen my friend Erin take insult after insult with immense grace and respect, and in response, I've seen other people dehumanised on her behalf. If we really want to stand up for equal rights and gender equality (whether that's through sports journalism or anything else), we can't expect change to come by being exactly like everyone else.

We have to be different.

We have to be kind.



*italicised quotes are comments taken from Erin Riley's personal Facebook page. I am not acquainted with these commentors, nor did I ask them to comment on their remarks. They are simply supplementary to this blog post.