Yes, it's 2013 and you're still reading headlines about sexism, because every day, both men and women still encounter or witness sexism happening. That's why Laura Bates' aptly named The Everyday Sexism Project, has collected nearly 250,000 stories in less than a year.
Everyday Sexism, founded by the 26-year-old Bates, provides a forum for people to document their experiences with "casual sexism," and broadcast it for the world to see.
Her argument? That many women don't realise they've been sexually assaulted or harassed because such activity has become so commonplace. She wants women to know that things like cat-calling or bottom-pinching are not only unwelcome, they're mostly illegal. For example, in the U.K., it's illegal to grope someone in a night club — and yet, this sort of thing happens so often that women not only endure it, they've come to expect it. Bates's site exists to showcase the frequency of these acts, and the fact that they should be addressed. Oh, and it's about to be turned into a short film as part of the Gucci project, Chime For Change.
More than one commenter and critic of the site has fallen back on that safety-net of anti-feminists: a call to lighten up and get a sense of humour. But let's all take a moment to remember this: At its most basic definition, feminism is the simple belief that women and men ought to have the same rights and be equal. And inequality is hardly something we have a sense of humour about. (Daily Mail)
Photo: Via The National Archives
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