This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/jan/06/how-to-run-a-successful-feminist-campaign
The article has changed 2 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
Previous version
1
Next version
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| How to set up and run a successful feminist campaign | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Build a network | Build a network |
| Sixth-form student Yas Necati has been busy over the last 12 months. She has started a petition for more effective sex education that has reached more than 52,000 signatures, protested outside the Conservative party conference dressed as a monkey to highlight this petition, been involved with the Twitter Youth Feminist Army – an online force, hundreds-strong – and sent regular letters to the editor of the Sun, David Dinsmore, urging him to replace the topless model on page three of his newspaper with a more powerful, inspiring image of a woman. | Sixth-form student Yas Necati has been busy over the last 12 months. She has started a petition for more effective sex education that has reached more than 52,000 signatures, protested outside the Conservative party conference dressed as a monkey to highlight this petition, been involved with the Twitter Youth Feminist Army – an online force, hundreds-strong – and sent regular letters to the editor of the Sun, David Dinsmore, urging him to replace the topless model on page three of his newspaper with a more powerful, inspiring image of a woman. |
| What changed her life, says Necati, was meeting other feminists in person. "It's so easy to feel isolated as a campaigner," she says, "to just feel you're talking to your computer screen." She now tries to attend every feminist protest she can, and says protesting physically as well as online can be crucial even for the most internet-based campaign. Her Tory party conference demo added 17,000 signatures to her petition in the space of two days. She first met other feminists at the Women of the World festival, which takes place in London in March each year – and she has also attended UK Feminista's summer school, held annually too. There are details about the countless feminist events and meetings now taking place on the F Word blog, and the UK Feminista website. | What changed her life, says Necati, was meeting other feminists in person. "It's so easy to feel isolated as a campaigner," she says, "to just feel you're talking to your computer screen." She now tries to attend every feminist protest she can, and says protesting physically as well as online can be crucial even for the most internet-based campaign. Her Tory party conference demo added 17,000 signatures to her petition in the space of two days. She first met other feminists at the Women of the World festival, which takes place in London in March each year – and she has also attended UK Feminista's summer school, held annually too. There are details about the countless feminist events and meetings now taking place on the F Word blog, and the UK Feminista website. |
| The importance of a good support network is echoed by other campaigners. Lucy-Anne Holmes says she started No More Page 3 by making a long list of everyone who might be able to help her, while Nimko Ali, who campaigns against female genital mutilation with her group Daughters of Eve, says building strong support is necessary for when a campaign becomes bruising as when she received death threats in response to her activism. When it comes to the backlash that so often accompanies feminist campaigning, having a group of fellow feminists to support you is obviously an enormous advantage, if possible. | The importance of a good support network is echoed by other campaigners. Lucy-Anne Holmes says she started No More Page 3 by making a long list of everyone who might be able to help her, while Nimko Ali, who campaigns against female genital mutilation with her group Daughters of Eve, says building strong support is necessary for when a campaign becomes bruising as when she received death threats in response to her activism. When it comes to the backlash that so often accompanies feminist campaigning, having a group of fellow feminists to support you is obviously an enormous advantage, if possible. |
| Keep it simple | Keep it simple |
| Some of the most impressive campaigns of the last few years are those that have found creative ways to bring a problem out of the shadows, by simply, sharply, tallying its impact. After the killing of seven women in the first three days of 2012, for instance, Karen Ingala Smith began her Counting Dead Women project, making a record of every misogynist murder of a woman in the UK, and publishing them online. This record puts names and faces to the statistics, and underpins Ingala Smith's call for proper government analysis and action on lethal male violence. | Some of the most impressive campaigns of the last few years are those that have found creative ways to bring a problem out of the shadows, by simply, sharply, tallying its impact. After the killing of seven women in the first three days of 2012, for instance, Karen Ingala Smith began her Counting Dead Women project, making a record of every misogynist murder of a woman in the UK, and publishing them online. This record puts names and faces to the statistics, and underpins Ingala Smith's call for proper government analysis and action on lethal male violence. |
| There are many examples of modern consciousness-raising and community building online, including writer Janet Mock's Twitter hashtag, #girlslikeus, where trans women share experiences and information, positive and negative, personal and campaigning. There's also the Everyday Sexism Project, started by Laura Bates in April 2012, where more than 50,000 women have shared examples of daily sexist discrimination, and Who Needs Feminism, a project started by Duke University students in the US, to illustrate the many reasons the women's movement is still necessary. The question for 2014 is this: what issue do you most want to highlight, and how can you do this simply and effectively, so your case becomes inarguable? | There are many examples of modern consciousness-raising and community building online, including writer Janet Mock's Twitter hashtag, #girlslikeus, where trans women share experiences and information, positive and negative, personal and campaigning. There's also the Everyday Sexism Project, started by Laura Bates in April 2012, where more than 50,000 women have shared examples of daily sexist discrimination, and Who Needs Feminism, a project started by Duke University students in the US, to illustrate the many reasons the women's movement is still necessary. The question for 2014 is this: what issue do you most want to highlight, and how can you do this simply and effectively, so your case becomes inarguable? |
| Make it easy for people to support your campaign | Make it easy for people to support your campaign |
| When Laura Bates, Soraya Chemaly and Jaclyn Friedman set up a campaign against misogynist pages on Facebook, they created mechanisms that made it incredibly easy for people to support them. They had decided to target advertisers whose products appeared alongside misogynist content, so on their campaign website, says Bates, "we had a page where we said: this is the company, here's the horrible image their advert appears beside, just click here to Tweet them, here to email them, here to put a post on their Facebook page. It was all automated, and ready-written." In the course of a week, more than 60,000 tweets were sent, companies began withdrawing their advertising from Facebook, and the site agreed to change its moderation policies. | When Laura Bates, Soraya Chemaly and Jaclyn Friedman set up a campaign against misogynist pages on Facebook, they created mechanisms that made it incredibly easy for people to support them. They had decided to target advertisers whose products appeared alongside misogynist content, so on their campaign website, says Bates, "we had a page where we said: this is the company, here's the horrible image their advert appears beside, just click here to Tweet them, here to email them, here to put a post on their Facebook page. It was all automated, and ready-written." In the course of a week, more than 60,000 tweets were sent, companies began withdrawing their advertising from Facebook, and the site agreed to change its moderation policies. |
| Another aspect of that campaign, says Chemaly, was that it identified the proper incentives for change. Petitions against misogynist content on Facebook had attracted hundreds of thousands of signatures in the past, but hadn't convinced the site to take action. "We just said, enough … we're going to figure out exactly where the pain threshold is." In this case, it was with the loss of advertising revenues. | Another aspect of that campaign, says Chemaly, was that it identified the proper incentives for change. Petitions against misogynist content on Facebook had attracted hundreds of thousands of signatures in the past, but hadn't convinced the site to take action. "We just said, enough … we're going to figure out exactly where the pain threshold is." In this case, it was with the loss of advertising revenues. |
| Personal stories are powerful | Personal stories are powerful |
| Of all the campaigns set up on online petition site Change.org, those that address women's rights are now the most likely to be successful. Part of the reason, says Brie Rogers Lowery, UK campaigns director for the site, is that the feminists who start petitions tend to be especially adept at using personal stories to power their campaign. | Of all the campaigns set up on online petition site Change.org, those that address women's rights are now the most likely to be successful. Part of the reason, says Brie Rogers Lowery, UK campaigns director for the site, is that the feminists who start petitions tend to be especially adept at using personal stories to power their campaign. |
| Still, it's best to proceed with caution when deciding whether to publicise your personal story. Ali says she doesn't regret talking about her experience of FGM in her campaigning – it's allowed her to draw huge attention to the issue, and show other women who have experienced it that they can survive as well – but she wishes she had been more emotionally prepared before going public. Becoming the personal face of an issue is brave, and powerful, but it can also be draining, and the feminist movement doesn't require full disclosure. | Still, it's best to proceed with caution when deciding whether to publicise your personal story. Ali says she doesn't regret talking about her experience of FGM in her campaigning – it's allowed her to draw huge attention to the issue, and show other women who have experienced it that they can survive as well – but she wishes she had been more emotionally prepared before going public. Becoming the personal face of an issue is brave, and powerful, but it can also be draining, and the feminist movement doesn't require full disclosure. |
| Don't be humourless | Don't be humourless |
| One of the most impressive aspects of Ali's campaign is her use of humour; she calls herself "the Bridget Jones of FGM," keeps a "fanny forward" list of supporters, and has used everything from vagina cupcakes to a vulva quilt to help deliver her message. The language and props she uses are a way of broaching an issue many people otherwise shy away from. "If you depress people by constantly telling them about how horrific all these things are, then everybody feels disempowered," she says. There's one proviso – tread carefully. This is not an excuse to make crass jokes at someone else's expense. | One of the most impressive aspects of Ali's campaign is her use of humour; she calls herself "the Bridget Jones of FGM," keeps a "fanny forward" list of supporters, and has used everything from vagina cupcakes to a vulva quilt to help deliver her message. The language and props she uses are a way of broaching an issue many people otherwise shy away from. "If you depress people by constantly telling them about how horrific all these things are, then everybody feels disempowered," she says. There's one proviso – tread carefully. This is not an excuse to make crass jokes at someone else's expense. |
| Start a feminist group yourself | Start a feminist group yourself |
| The influential group Black Feminists started with a coffee organised by Chitra Nagarajan and a few other activists. Until then, says Nagarajan, "my whole activist career had been about compartmentalisation, and so with the anti-racist people it was all about the fight against racism, with the women's rights movement it was all about the fight for women's rights ... they were interlinked, of course, but I felt there wasn't any space to bring everything together." At the initial meeting, four times the number of people she expected turned up, the discussion was immediately powerful, and what had been intended as a one-off turned into a thriving, supportive group. If there's a feminist outlook or issue you feel strongly about, there's a good chance others will too. | The influential group Black Feminists started with a coffee organised by Chitra Nagarajan and a few other activists. Until then, says Nagarajan, "my whole activist career had been about compartmentalisation, and so with the anti-racist people it was all about the fight against racism, with the women's rights movement it was all about the fight for women's rights ... they were interlinked, of course, but I felt there wasn't any space to bring everything together." At the initial meeting, four times the number of people she expected turned up, the discussion was immediately powerful, and what had been intended as a one-off turned into a thriving, supportive group. If there's a feminist outlook or issue you feel strongly about, there's a good chance others will too. |
| Jinan Younis, who has just started university, found UK Feminista's guidelines on setting up a feminist group useful when she co-founded one at school. They began with some simple exercises – each member introduced themselves, and named a woman they admired, for instance. This made them appreciate the female role models who are in the public eye, but also helped them recognise what a rarity they are, says Younis, thus illustrating one of the reasons why feminism is still necessary. | Jinan Younis, who has just started university, found UK Feminista's guidelines on setting up a feminist group useful when she co-founded one at school. They began with some simple exercises – each member introduced themselves, and named a woman they admired, for instance. This made them appreciate the female role models who are in the public eye, but also helped them recognise what a rarity they are, says Younis, thus illustrating one of the reasons why feminism is still necessary. |
| Be ready for the backlash | Be ready for the backlash |
| The obvious benefit of the tools now available online is that you can start addressing an issue quickly, with just a Facebook, Twitter and YouTube account – and Rogers Lowery says a swift response is essential. Petitions tend to gain much more momentum, she says, if they're set up "within 12 to 24 hours of a news story breaking". | The obvious benefit of the tools now available online is that you can start addressing an issue quickly, with just a Facebook, Twitter and YouTube account – and Rogers Lowery says a swift response is essential. Petitions tend to gain much more momentum, she says, if they're set up "within 12 to 24 hours of a news story breaking". |
| Once a campaign is under way, you have to look after yourself. In the first months of Holmes's campaign against Page 3, when she was largely working alone, she often felt she was unable to switch off social media, even at family gatherings. As a result, five months in, she experienced burnout. This felt "like quite a dark depression, to be honest", she says, and it prompted her to contact some of the most vocal supporters of the campaign to ask if they'd form a team to help her. They all said yes, and as a result, the setback became an important factor in the campaign's continued visibility. | Once a campaign is under way, you have to look after yourself. In the first months of Holmes's campaign against Page 3, when she was largely working alone, she often felt she was unable to switch off social media, even at family gatherings. As a result, five months in, she experienced burnout. This felt "like quite a dark depression, to be honest", she says, and it prompted her to contact some of the most vocal supporters of the campaign to ask if they'd form a team to help her. They all said yes, and as a result, the setback became an important factor in the campaign's continued visibility. |
| Most of the activists I spoke to say the misogynist comments they receive are fuel for the fire. They're evidence to bring out when someone denies there's any need for feminism – a backlash that can inadvertently help in building a campaign. Feminists: 1. Misogynists: 0. | Most of the activists I spoke to say the misogynist comments they receive are fuel for the fire. They're evidence to bring out when someone denies there's any need for feminism – a backlash that can inadvertently help in building a campaign. Feminists: 1. Misogynists: 0. |
| Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning. | Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning. |
Previous version
1
Next version