Performative Inclusion and International Women’s Day
Written using Robbie Swale’s 12-minute method . Written in 20 mins and edited once before posting.
Performative inclusion is an issue I find myself reflecting upon every year during Pride Month and International Women’s Day (IWD). I enjoy these times of year which celebrate parts of my identity which are often not acknowledged or shared. However, watching media coverage of the events leaves me feeling frustrated and angry at companies and brands reappropriating the message for their agenda.
During international women’s day 2022, I reached this point of upset and frustration early on in the event. Watching email after email and advert after advert roll in, sharing celebrations of women and spreading pride in women. These messages and sentiment are amazing from female owned companies, proud of their founder or female focussed brands, striving to empower women. However, many brands seem to only ever recognise and empower women on this one day per year and only publicly.
Why does the company feel the need to send me a list of the top women in their company in order to celebrate them? Can they not simply give her a week off, bonus or raise? Why are supermarkets emailing me wishing me a happy women’s day rather than telling me that for this day all feminine hygiene products have their profit margin removed or nappies are free to single mothers? Why are fast fashion companies sharing a female first message while still exploiting vulnerable women in their sweatshops? Why are they spending millions on an advert campaign rather than hiring, paying fairly and promoting women within their company? Why is their gender pay gap so big?
During IWD I attended an event where the bar celebrated the day and made sure to cheer on women. However, in the next breath, they called a woman a bitch and made crude sexual jokes aimed at a young woman. The bar also advertised which sports events they would be showing that week. Out of the five upcoming matches advertised, none were matches in women’s sports. They were signalling to women they were appreciated then undermining us without even pausing.
On the walk home after the event, I still needed a male friend to travel home with me and walk me to my front door. I pride myself in being fiercely independent and able to handle myself. However, at night, my sense of identity is undermined by having to ensure I’m never alone on the streets. On a day to celebrate women, I still knew I was not safe on the streets around my own home after dark.
Women are not safe outside of their homes for the majority of hours of the day, but it’s okay, because Sainsburys have emailed me wishing me a happy international women’s day.
