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Here’s a pretty common scenario - we are invited to an urbanist meet up or a group ride and I look around to find I’m one of just a handful of women in a sea of men.
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http://www.modacitylife.com/blog/2015/1/27/the-female-advocate-dilemma
CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Debate!
"The Female Advocate Dilemma"
(5 posts)-
Posted 10 years ago #
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Good article (once I'd realised it was being presented to me as white text on a white background....)
Don't think there are any simple answers to the central dilemma. One of the things about the Women's Cycle Forum was that the conversations (at least the ones I was involved with) were not particularly female-specific. Yet having the space to have conversations like that without the consequence of "fimm said this, therefore all women think this" is good too.Posted 10 years ago # -
One of the things that inspired me to start the Women's Cycle Forum was reading Delusions of Gender by Cordelia Fine. The case she makes is that, while men's and women's brains aren't really different, social expectations weigh on us in so many unconscious ways that they affect people's performances even in ostensibly objective tests of abilities (one example is that girls do better in science tests if there's a picture of Marie Curie on the wall, for instance). So, having long resisted the idea of women-only spaces or groups as being demeaning or pandering, I came round to the idea that women-led (but not exclusive) events would be a way to give women the space to talk about what mattered to them without having to be 'the woman'. Also I noticed that a lot of the interesting stuff going on in the US was being led by female campaigners, and I thought it might change the record a bit in the UK. It doesn't mean abdicating from the main discussion and retreating into our own little world, but it's one more way people can get involved in cycling and campaigning without the fear that they will be ignored, belittled or made to feel a shrew for speaking up (all of which I have seen happen, sadly).
Posted 10 years ago # -
All female senior management in my school. Several all female departments, one all male (techie). I'm the only guy in biology, 4/5 lady chaps depending how you count the staff.
Posted 10 years ago # -
Thought I'd revive this thread after Saturday's WCF event.
Think WCF might become more 'prominent/visible' - not least because of this -
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Build a Better World Bingo Challenge #BaBWBingo
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Posted 10 years ago #
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