your eyes not this talk again the wage
gap rape culture gender roles you’ve
heard it all before having grown up on
the Internet
we’re very familiar with the multitude
up in justices around the world and in
turn ear beheads right now we know where
we stand on these issues but not many of
us put our thoughts into meaningful
action we read the news article we
grumble we move on my name is sue Yoon
and I want you to take a stand
speaking up about a social issue is
quite simply not cool and people are
hesitant to call themselves activists of
any kind because of the social stigma
brings feminists like myself are
silenced by labels like feminazi and
social justice warrior advocates for
racial equality are told to stop playing
the race card most of the stigma are the
result of misplaced frustration from an
audience grown tired of constant nagging
by a few radical individuals activists
are ridiculed and literally made into a
meme by those who find humor and people
that have something worth protecting
worth resolving worth fighting for no
one likes to be made fun of but it’s a
risk worth taking when you speak out
against an injustice you’re doing your
rightful duty as a citizen of the world
a world in which brilliant minds are
denied citizenship in a safe country
away from the war back home a world in
which a predators athletic potential
over ways a young one’s right to feel
safe in her own body a world in which
good men and good women are physically
attacked by the police
due to the false notion that pigmented
skin is synonymous with danger this is a
world with room for improvement all
that’s needed to change it for the
better is a single voice your voice the
question is what do you do with it
pick your platform wisely I’m here on
stage in front of you because I want to
be heard when I talk about justice and
equality and the power of unity because
what inspires you in order to direct
your passions in the right channel
do your research social media though
it’s often regarded as an arena for
uneducated angry children is the most
popular vehicle for social activism in
this digital age the use of hashtags for
example has been shown to be massively
effective in building support for a
cause each of us can name a few that
we’ve seen online black lives matter
bring back our girls yes all women an
article from the Journal of media and
communication points out that
establishing a single hashtag for a
movement helps build unity and allows
for a collection of ideas from a wide
range of people furthermore hashtags
that contains strong emotive language
can help spur an imperative need to take
immediate action
however these hashtags and Tumblr posts
only achieve real change when they’re
complimented by real-life movement black
lives matter only works because it
exists out on the streets in the form of
demonstrations as well as online as a
hashtag on the other hand bring back our
girls or reaction to the mass kidnapping
of 276 schoolgirls in the Nigerian town
of chibok has achieved little tangible
change despite being shared online over
a million times because the movement is
nowhere to be seen
offline in your own activism don’t
neglect the old-school foundations of
making a change which include art
peaceful protests theatre and speeches
like I’m doing now instead of posting
the script on Facebook number to tailor
your ideas to your audience a few years
ago I was trying to get my friends to
sympathize with issues faced by women
constantly explaining over and over the
importance of equal opportunity
and no one listened I told this to my
mom and she said something that made me
real valuate what I was doing she said
maybe what you’re saying is correct but
you’re explaining it in a way that would
only make sense to you
you guys don’t quote me on this but
sometimes our parents were right
aligning the delivery of your ideas to
the cultural and personal values of your
audience can increase persuasiveness
significantly this is seen in a study
published by two professors from the
University of Essex and the University
of Michigan which found that European
Americans were more persuaded by a
message that was phrased in the context
of the personal self and Asian Americans
were more persuaded when relational
obligations were emphasized Emma
Watson’s campaign for UNC for she
demonstrates this perfectly she
recognized that gender equality cannot
be achieved solely by the efforts of
women in order to inspire men to join
the cause she made speeches addressing
men emphasizing the negative effects of
sexism that pertain to men
for example the limited opportunities
for them to seek emotional support due
to societal expectations
I saw the effects of he for she all
around me as Emma Watson’s speech went
viral more of my male friends expressed
interest in the subject and even
identified as feminists your audience
are people with likes and dislikes each
with their own agenda the more people
you’re persuade the more people are
willing to work with you to make a
change finally know that different
groups of in just different groups of
people experience injustice in different
ways failure to do so could serve as a
reason for those groups to reject your
ideas a classic example is what critics
we’re gender rights activists with the
largest influence fail to acknowledge
experiences of sexism unique to women of
color transgender women queer women
women with disabilities women of
different faiths and so on
white feminism is exemplified by slogan
on a shirt worn by actress Meryl Streep
in a promotional photo shoot for the
2015 film suffragettes which documents
the women’s suffrage movement in early
twentieth century Britain the slogan
reads I’d rather be a rebel than a slave
quoted from a 1913 speech by women’s
rights activist Emmeline Pankhurst so
emmalin bankers enter meryl streep the
use of the word slave is merely a
metaphor to emphasize a necessity of
feminism however two women of African
descent who have very different
experiences and thoughts surrounding
slavery the slogan is an insensitive
reduction of the racial obstacles faced
by women of color only to be used as a
rhetorical ploy and furthering the
narrow agenda of white British feminists
Meryl Streep immediately received
criticism and unintentionally placed
herself at a disadvantage and her
feminist activism in order to avoid
excluding demographics and losing
supporters do your research on how
people of intersecting identities are
affected by both the issue you wish to
tackle and your actions to tackle the
issue so this is you after leaving this
room today you’re going to pull out your
phone and spot yet another and raging
article this time don’t stay silent for
fear of ridicule and for fear that your
voice isn’t enough start talking start creating start thank you