[Music]
good evening everyone so I’d like to
begin my talk with a disclaimer and a
very sincere apology I will be using the
f-word a lot throughout my speech and I
am extremely sorry
therefore I kindly ask you to brace
yourselves
if you feel free to take out your
headphones your earplugs whatever you
need to do before I begin okay so
feminism you know that movement of angry
aggressive man hating women who do not
believe in marriage support only strong
career woman and scrutinize all
stay-at-home moms you know those
feminists I identify as a feminist and
unfortunately I do not represent any of
those after mentioned qualities pink is
my favorite color
I love weekend shopping trips to the
mall with my mom and I think chivalry is
adorable I identify as a feminist
because I genuinely believe in the
equality between men and women I believe
that everyone deserves the right to
individualistic and liberating choices
and I believe that this patriarchal
society that we live in is unhealthy for
both men and women alike the feminist
world that I envision is a world where
young girls in Pakistan and Afghanistan
can walk to school every morning with
their heads held up high the world I
want to see is a world where women fact
workers in Bangladesh work in clean safe
and regulated conditions and as they
walk back home each evening they walk
confidently without the fear of being
sexually harassed I asked to see a world
where countries like Cameroon stopped
the practice of ironing their young
females breasts that will cause them the
pain of breast cancer and tissue damage
in the future feminism to me and its
most raw and purest form is simply the
belief in the social political and
economic equality of the sexes that
basic human rights are equally and
easily accessible to every single
individual on this planet and this is
the only definition I want us to bear in
mind today now I am aware that some of
you sitting here are probably completely
unconvinced by what I just said and I
only have one thing to respond to you
and that is I completely understand me
as a feminist in no way am I saying that
I represent everything that’s done in
the name of feminism for example a
couple days ago I came across the most
interesting article on the Telegraph
about sexist air conditioning yes
sexist – air conditioning and just as
the peculiar title suggests the story is
also a rather obnoxious one the article
was about a research conducted where it
was found that their standard office
temperature was in Riyadh reality most
accommodating for men and biologically
too cold for women now the feminist
concern that arose from this information
was that this case of air conditioning
was preventing women from dressing
fashion
to work because now they were obligated
to cover up their skin and work hard
again to protect themselves from the
cold I’m not sure if you’re thinking
what I’m thinking here but it’s a shame
what feminism has been molded into right
feminism has been taken too far where
every petty issue is debated in the name
of feminism it’s a bit similar to the
story of the boy who cried wolf right
where the more feminism is debated in a
petty context the less meaningful the
word becomes for example instead of the
discussion being about the feminization
of poverty or women’s limited access to
health care and education an
unreasonable proportion of attention is
diverted to extremely first world and
whitewashed feminism that does not
necessarily encompass the feminist
ideology as a whole I mean as much as
many women would love air-conditioning
to be a legitimate problem first world
issues like these are not only insulting
to even more pressing issues but they
are also very damaging to the feminist
movements overall image because when
incidents like these arise that provide
a rather false and narrow representation
and what the feminist movement is truly
about it gives opportunity for people to
shame and discredit the works of
feminists who have worked tirelessly to
better the lives of other women it
subjects these brave and commendable
women to negative portrayals such as
man-hating lesbians as to numatic to
strident and too harsh we live in a
complicated era of feminism where under
the status quo feminism has become
extremely ambiguous in a world of free
speech and social networking
feminism has evolved beyond its western
borders to transform into a global
matter that deals with more complex and
diverse issues however as it evolves it
seems that people become more and more
desensitized to why feminism is
important but only follow this label to
remain free of criticism and be
politically correct this lack of
understanding has led to a very
mainstream version of feminism that has
not only cost the reputation of the
feminist movement but has also caused
widespread skepticism and disbelief
amongst many people this mainstream
feminism that I speak of is one that
contains very warped concepts and
ideologies it is one that ignores many
dimensions of our society but focuses in
on issues that seem trendy rather than
issues that truly require focus many
issues such as equal rights for
transgender women whether or not women
have the right to wear a hijab because
she sees it as a symbol of faith and not
one of oppression or not wear one if she
feels the opposite are issues that are
neglected in this realm of feminism
alternatively people who complain about
air conditioning being sexist earn much
more coverage from the media and
multiple social platforms to express
that concern but despite all this why do
I still stand so friendly with my belief
because I believe in the feminist
ideology I genuinely believe that there
is a problem with our system and I don’t
think it’s controversial for me to say
that philosophically feminism is
completely right that we should all be
fighting for social political and
economic equality all people regardless
of gender
should be afforded the same rights and
respect this to me seems intuitive for
any decent human being alive today in
addition it is something that has
affected me and those around me for the
past 15 years so this is a picture of me
at the age of four I know you can say it
wasn’t I adorable but the main reason I
brought up this picture was because I
want you to notice that I had slightly
tenner skin when I was younger and
growing up in a conservative Thai
Chinese background and growing up around
very old and traditional ideologies
having this tan skin wasn’t very
acceptable and often my elders would
call me the little black role and the
would often kindly advised me to stay
out of the Sun to use more sunscreen or
else I would not grow up to be a pretty
girl now fast-forward three years later
at the age of seven I was the tallest
person in my class this included being
tall taller than all the boys and my
relatives told me to stop growing or
else I would grow up to not be able to
find a boyfriend or husband and if that
was the most important thing a
seven-year-old should be worrying about
yet on the other hand my male class me
who was shorter than everyone else was
often taunted by his family members to
grow taller and he eventually succumbed
to that pressure by finding every humane
possibility to make sure that he did
girls holler
now as I grew older and my outspoken and
straightforward personality began to
shine through this started to annoy some
of my relatives who can descended my
behavior they said that this
characteristic was unattractive for a
girl to have
yet very hypocritically my male cousin
who was kind of shy was often told by
his parents to speak up more to express
his opinions because they did not want
him to end up like other shy girls in a
recent examination when I lost one mark
to a male classmate one of my relatives
idea of comforting me wants to tell me
that it’s okay you know boys are
naturally smarter so I might as well
have to live with that reality what is
even more heartbreaking it’s to hear
that my best friend’s dream of becoming
an engineer has been hindered because
her parents did not believe that
becoming an engineer is a fit occupation
for a girl like her these are the things
I have tolerated with these are the
things I have turned a blind eye towards
despite the discomfort I felt this
patriarchal society has been woven
interrupt unconsciousness and can often
become overwhelming causing us to turn a
blind eye to worth certain issues even
if it means that we impede on our
sovereignty as women how staying silent
and dismissing degrading and
disrespectful jokes about women is a
sign of coolness while showing our dis
content was a sign of being too whiny
and too difficult however what I have
told you are stories coming out of a
considerably privileged person who has
been extremely lucky enough to only have
experiences that can easily be brushed
off for look past however growing up in
Thailand it is unsettling for me to have
to face with the fact that many women
are beyond a point where they’re just
facing with a passing sexist common but
actually have to deal with extremely
detrimental
winces that are both physically
immensely damaging to them Thailand for
example is extremely notorious for its
violence against women whether it’s a
problem of rape domestic violence or sex
trafficking in a recent Bangkok Post
survey out of 1608 respondents it was
found that a staggering forty two point
two percent of these women admitted to
being forced into sexual acts with their
boyfriends and husbands
while another forty one point one
percent were forced to have an abortion
there is something undeniably wrong with
the Thai system how the culture of
teaching men how to perceive women and
how women should behave in the society
has ultimately led to many women’s
demise how men are taught to be
patronizing speed little leader of the
family while females are taught to be
prim and proper to be genteel to not
complain to not express their opinion we
are taught that sex is a taboo subject
and that it should not be discussed in
any kind of public public forum which is
why many women despite being physically
and mentally abused by their husbands at
home every day despite being raped by a
stranger on the way home are unwilling
to step up and fend for themselves from
the traumatic experiences that they face
in conclusion we see that so many issues
are happening around us and we see that
so many women are unable to defend
themselves from what they face which is
why I turn to you instead I ask one
thing of you please don’t say that I’m a
supporter of human rights but I’m not a
feminist if it was because of your
passion is
options of what a feminist truly is then
please take something from today’s talk
and reconsider your beliefs
remember that identifying as a feminist
means that we all share one common goal
of achieving equality for all genders
the only way we can accomplish genuine
equality is we’re able to capture the
different shades of patriarchal
oppression faced by different women from
different backgrounds I asked you to
think of this not as a feminist issue
but as one that’s under the context of
human rights be considerate of those who
are more vulnerable and less privileged
than you are remember that the threats
are real and are happening we all face
problems with inequality as men and
women and if we interweave our
sufferings together then our solutions
to these sufferings should be woven
together – thank you
[Applause]
[Music]
good evening everyone so I’d like to
begin my talk with a disclaimer and a
very sincere apology I will be using the
f-word a lot throughout my speech and I
am extremely sorry
therefore I kindly ask you to brace
yourselves
if you feel free to take out your
headphones your earplugs whatever you
need to do before I begin okay so
feminism you know that movement of angry
aggressive man hating women who do not
believe in marriage support only strong
career woman and scrutinize all
stay-at-home moms you know those
feminists I identify as a feminist and
unfortunately I do not represent any of
those after mentioned qualities pink is
my favorite color
I love weekend shopping trips to the
mall with my mom and I think chivalry is
adorable I identify as a feminist
because I genuinely believe in the
equality between men and women I believe
that everyone deserves the right to
individualistic and liberating choices
and I believe that this patriarchal
society that we live in is unhealthy for
both men and women alike the feminist
world that I envision is a world where
young girls in Pakistan and Afghanistan
can walk to school every morning with
their heads held up high the world I
want to see is a world where women fact
workers in Bangladesh work in clean safe
and regulated conditions and as they
walk back home each evening they walk
confidently without the fear of being
sexually harassed I asked to see a world
where countries like Cameroon stopped
the practice of ironing their young
females breasts that will cause them the
pain of breast cancer and tissue damage
in the future feminism to me and its
most raw and purest form is simply the
belief in the social political and
economic equality of the sexes that
basic human rights are equally and
easily accessible to every single
individual on this planet and this is
the only definition I want us to bear in
mind today now I am aware that some of
you sitting here are probably completely
unconvinced by what I just said and I
only have one thing to respond to you
and that is I completely understand me
as a feminist in no way am I saying that
I represent everything that’s done in
the name of feminism for example a
couple days ago I came across the most
interesting article on the Telegraph
about sexist air conditioning yes
sexist – air conditioning and just as
the peculiar title suggests the story is
also a rather obnoxious one the article
was about a research conducted where it
was found that their standard office
temperature was in Riyadh reality most
accommodating for men and biologically
too cold for women now the feminist
concern that arose from this information
was that this case of air conditioning
was preventing women from dressing
fashion
to work because now they were obligated
to cover up their skin and work hard
again to protect themselves from the
cold I’m not sure if you’re thinking
what I’m thinking here but it’s a shame
what feminism has been molded into right
feminism has been taken too far where
every petty issue is debated in the name
of feminism it’s a bit similar to the
story of the boy who cried wolf right
where the more feminism is debated in a
petty context the less meaningful the
word becomes for example instead of the
discussion being about the feminization
of poverty or women’s limited access to
health care and education an
unreasonable proportion of attention is
diverted to extremely first world and
whitewashed feminism that does not
necessarily encompass the feminist
ideology as a whole I mean as much as
many women would love air-conditioning
to be a legitimate problem first world
issues like these are not only insulting
to even more pressing issues but they
are also very damaging to the feminist
movements overall image because when
incidents like these arise that provide
a rather false and narrow representation
and what the feminist movement is truly
about it gives opportunity for people to
shame and discredit the works of
feminists who have worked tirelessly to
better the lives of other women it
subjects these brave and commendable
women to negative portrayals such as
man-hating lesbians as to numatic to
strident and too harsh we live in a
complicated era of feminism where under
the status quo feminism has become
extremely ambiguous in a world of free
speech and social networking
feminism has evolved beyond its western
borders to transform into a global
matter that deals with more complex and
diverse issues however as it evolves it
seems that people become more and more
desensitized to why feminism is
important but only follow this label to
remain free of criticism and be
politically correct this lack of
understanding has led to a very
mainstream version of feminism that has
not only cost the reputation of the
feminist movement but has also caused
widespread skepticism and disbelief
amongst many people this mainstream
feminism that I speak of is one that
contains very warped concepts and
ideologies it is one that ignores many
dimensions of our society but focuses in
on issues that seem trendy rather than
issues that truly require focus many
issues such as equal rights for
transgender women whether or not women
have the right to wear a hijab because
she sees it as a symbol of faith and not
one of oppression or not wear one if she
feels the opposite are issues that are
neglected in this realm of feminism
alternatively people who complain about
air conditioning being sexist earn much
more coverage from the media and
multiple social platforms to express
that concern but despite all this why do
I still stand so friendly with my belief
because I believe in the feminist
ideology I genuinely believe that there
is a problem with our system and I don’t
think it’s controversial for me to say
that philosophically feminism is
completely right that we should all be
fighting for social political and
economic equality all people regardless
of gender
should be afforded the same rights and
respect this to me seems intuitive for
any decent human being alive today in
addition it is something that has
affected me and those around me for the
past 15 years so this is a picture of me
at the age of four I know you can say it
wasn’t I adorable but the main reason I
brought up this picture was because I
want you to notice that I had slightly
tenner skin when I was younger and
growing up in a conservative Thai
Chinese background and growing up around
very old and traditional ideologies
having this tan skin wasn’t very
acceptable and often my elders would
call me the little black role and the
would often kindly advised me to stay
out of the Sun to use more sunscreen or
else I would not grow up to be a pretty
girl now fast-forward three years later
at the age of seven I was the tallest
person in my class this included being
tall taller than all the boys and my
relatives told me to stop growing or
else I would grow up to not be able to
find a boyfriend or husband and if that
was the most important thing a
seven-year-old should be worrying about
yet on the other hand my male class me
who was shorter than everyone else was
often taunted by his family members to
grow taller and he eventually succumbed
to that pressure by finding every humane
possibility to make sure that he did
girls holler
now as I grew older and my outspoken and
straightforward personality began to
shine through this started to annoy some
of my relatives who can descended my
behavior they said that this
characteristic was unattractive for a
girl to have
yet very hypocritically my male cousin
who was kind of shy was often told by
his parents to speak up more to express
his opinions because they did not want
him to end up like other shy girls in a
recent examination when I lost one mark
to a male classmate one of my relatives
idea of comforting me wants to tell me
that it’s okay you know boys are
naturally smarter so I might as well
have to live with that reality what is
even more heartbreaking it’s to hear
that my best friend’s dream of becoming
an engineer has been hindered because
her parents did not believe that
becoming an engineer is a fit occupation
for a girl like her these are the things
I have tolerated with these are the
things I have turned a blind eye towards
despite the discomfort I felt this
patriarchal society has been woven
interrupt unconsciousness and can often
become overwhelming causing us to turn a
blind eye to worth certain issues even
if it means that we impede on our
sovereignty as women how staying silent
and dismissing degrading and
disrespectful jokes about women is a
sign of coolness while showing our dis
content was a sign of being too whiny
and too difficult however what I have
told you are stories coming out of a
considerably privileged person who has
been extremely lucky enough to only have
experiences that can easily be brushed
off for look past however growing up in
Thailand it is unsettling for me to have
to face with the fact that many women
are beyond a point where they’re just
facing with a passing sexist common but
actually have to deal with extremely
detrimental
winces that are both physically
immensely damaging to them Thailand for
example is extremely notorious for its
violence against women whether it’s a
problem of rape domestic violence or sex
trafficking in a recent Bangkok Post
survey out of 1608 respondents it was
found that a staggering forty two point
two percent of these women admitted to
being forced into sexual acts with their
boyfriends and husbands
while another forty one point one
percent were forced to have an abortion
there is something undeniably wrong with
the Thai system how the culture of
teaching men how to perceive women and
how women should behave in the society
has ultimately led to many women’s
demise how men are taught to be
patronizing speed little leader of the
family while females are taught to be
prim and proper to be genteel to not
complain to not express their opinion we
are taught that sex is a taboo subject
and that it should not be discussed in
any kind of public public forum which is
why many women despite being physically
and mentally abused by their husbands at
home every day despite being raped by a
stranger on the way home are unwilling
to step up and fend for themselves from
the traumatic experiences that they face
in conclusion we see that so many issues
are happening around us and we see that
so many women are unable to defend
themselves from what they face which is
why I turn to you instead I ask one
thing of you please don’t say that I’m a
supporter of human rights but I’m not a
feminist if it was because of your
passion is
options of what a feminist truly is then
please take something from today’s talk
and reconsider your beliefs
remember that identifying as a feminist
means that we all share one common goal
of achieving equality for all genders
the only way we can accomplish genuine
equality is we’re able to capture the
different shades of patriarchal
oppression faced by different women from
different backgrounds I asked you to
think of this not as a feminist issue
but as one that’s under the context of
human rights be considerate of those who
are more vulnerable and less privileged
than you are remember that the threats
are real and are happening we all face
problems with inequality as men and
women and if we interweave our
sufferings together then our solutions
to these sufferings should be woven
together – thank you
[Applause]
[Music]
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