What does gender equality mean to you? Do you think today’s society is a fine example of true gender equality? This year’s International Women’s Day on March 8th raised a whole lot more questions such as what gender equality means to you. For many people, we’re simply not there yet. That’s how the tag #NotThere surfaced all around social media to arouse the notion that modern society has yet to develop complete gender equality. Thousands of social media avatars on this day were replaced with a female silhouette as a sign of support and to create awareness. To show their support and to recognize that not all women are the same, Vogue magazine even posted a picture on Twitter of their magazine cover with a female silhouette to replace the cover girl. In fact, Twitter was surrounded by a massive effort of support for the #NotThere campaign with celebrities such as Cameron Diaz and Kate Upton that tweeted out their supportive messages.
Not only was Twitter showered with support, but YouTube was able to get the word out there about the issue of gender equality and the empowerment of women. YouTube launched its #DearMe campaign. Many famous YouTubers such as Grace Helbig, Michelle Phan, Felicia Day, and Lily Singh created short videos of themselves giving advice to their younger self. They were able to come clean about the social issues and personal problems they were faced with as a child. The topics ranged broad enough to talk about almost all of the problems a teenage girl faces, such as bullying, body image, dating issues, and much more. You’re probably wondering what all of this has to do with gender equality, but often times women don't feel confident because of the pressure from the media. Women are told to look a certain way, to dress a certain way, to live a certain way. The purpose of this campaign was to build confidence and empower women all over the world.
Felicia Day, a YouTuber and gamer, shares in the video, “go ahead, mess up big, failure is not the end of the world.” Other YouTubers shared similar sentiments such as Lily Singh’s statement, “Y`ou were born to stick out.” Many more heartfelt and helpful messages were shared through this campaign in order to bring attention to the amazing achievements and potential that women bring to society.
Even Google was able to share their support by celebrating women’s achievements through doodles on their homepage of many women in high-profile careers such as astronauts, judges, and scientists.
Social media played a part in raising awareness and bringing to attention the true issues with equality but action was taken to actually take care of this situation. The women’s summit’s hosts, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and African Union Commission Chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, received letters stating that women empowerment is a major global issue that requires an increase in financing. This letter blatantly stated that, “Poverty is sexist, and we won't end it unless we face up to the fact that girls and women get a raw deal.” Women not only are deprived of the right of education, freedom, and training, but they are programmed to think that that’s okay. In my opinion, the fact that they are able digest that women don’t deserve the right to education and actually do something with their lives is inacceptable. They have no idea what they’re capable of as women and they can never know because society tells them that they simply can’t do it. Many women even face problems with child marriages where many are married before they’re eighteen. In fact, 1 in 4 girls in India are married before their eighteenth birthday. The issues with feminism in developing countries are a serious problem that still obviously still occurs today.
Do you now feel differently now about gender equality and feminism? Do you agree or disagree that society has not reached complete equality? To learn more about this raving issue and the many other complications that surround it such as abuse and the differences in the job market for men and women, visit www.noceilings.org
Not only was Twitter showered with support, but YouTube was able to get the word out there about the issue of gender equality and the empowerment of women. YouTube launched its #DearMe campaign. Many famous YouTubers such as Grace Helbig, Michelle Phan, Felicia Day, and Lily Singh created short videos of themselves giving advice to their younger self. They were able to come clean about the social issues and personal problems they were faced with as a child. The topics ranged broad enough to talk about almost all of the problems a teenage girl faces, such as bullying, body image, dating issues, and much more. You’re probably wondering what all of this has to do with gender equality, but often times women don't feel confident because of the pressure from the media. Women are told to look a certain way, to dress a certain way, to live a certain way. The purpose of this campaign was to build confidence and empower women all over the world.
Felicia Day, a YouTuber and gamer, shares in the video, “go ahead, mess up big, failure is not the end of the world.” Other YouTubers shared similar sentiments such as Lily Singh’s statement, “Y`ou were born to stick out.” Many more heartfelt and helpful messages were shared through this campaign in order to bring attention to the amazing achievements and potential that women bring to society.
Even Google was able to share their support by celebrating women’s achievements through doodles on their homepage of many women in high-profile careers such as astronauts, judges, and scientists.
Social media played a part in raising awareness and bringing to attention the true issues with equality but action was taken to actually take care of this situation. The women’s summit’s hosts, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and African Union Commission Chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, received letters stating that women empowerment is a major global issue that requires an increase in financing. This letter blatantly stated that, “Poverty is sexist, and we won't end it unless we face up to the fact that girls and women get a raw deal.” Women not only are deprived of the right of education, freedom, and training, but they are programmed to think that that’s okay. In my opinion, the fact that they are able digest that women don’t deserve the right to education and actually do something with their lives is inacceptable. They have no idea what they’re capable of as women and they can never know because society tells them that they simply can’t do it. Many women even face problems with child marriages where many are married before they’re eighteen. In fact, 1 in 4 girls in India are married before their eighteenth birthday. The issues with feminism in developing countries are a serious problem that still obviously still occurs today.
Do you now feel differently now about gender equality and feminism? Do you agree or disagree that society has not reached complete equality? To learn more about this raving issue and the many other complications that surround it such as abuse and the differences in the job market for men and women, visit www.noceilings.org