Speak Up!. Laura Coryton

the United Nations, and in doing so she changed the face of feminism.

      During her speech, Emma questioned her ability to talk about women’s rights, asking: is an actress qualified to speak up about this? Yes. I think she absolutely is – because, as she said in her speech, she cares and wants to make things better. And this is what qualifies you to speak up about the things that you care about too.

      So, if you’re scared about speaking up, you’re in great company. You don’t have to start by giving a speech to the whole world. You can start small.

       BUT ALWAYS TRUST

       THAT YOU CAN MAKE

       A DIFFERENCE.

      There’s a time for big campaigns but there are also many times for tiny, everyday actions that have a huge impact. In Chapter 4 we’re going to talk about some difficult things.

       RELATIONSHIPS

       CONSENT

       SELF-LOVE

      These are big topics. You can speak up about them on an everyday basis. It’s these conversations that change the world. In Chapter 4 we’ll talk about how political the personal really is. By sparking conversations with those around you about these topics, you can challenge prejudices and change narratives.

      You can use your voice to find power in lots of everyday situations. Catcalling is just one. When I was at school, I experienced catcalling, sadly, like many, many other female students. It shouldn’t happen, but it does. It made me feel uncomfortable. It still does. But since then, I’ve learned how to deal with the men who call out to me and my friends. What are they thinking anyway? That we’d reply? ‘What a great chat-up line! Can we make out right now, please?’ Come on.

      For years I didn’t know what to do, so I did nothing, but it doesn’t have to be that way.

      This book will help you discover the many ways you can find your power by using your voice.

       IT WILL SHOW YOU HOW TO

       BE THE BADASS I KNOW

       YOU ARE.

      After all, changes don’t happen by themselves. Voices make change. Voices like yours.

      Just like Lucy Gavaghan, teenage animal welfare activist and my inspiring friend (who, in her spare time convinced supermarket giant Tesco to stop selling caged eggs), always tells me:

       ‘Never forget the power a single voice has to make an incredible impact.’

       THE INTERNET IS OUR SUPERPOWER!

      I never set out to become a campaigner. I didn’t dream about ending the tampon tax when I grew up. I’d never even heard of the tampon tax. In fact, our school careers advisor suggested us girls should aspire to careers such as wedding planning, while the boys should aim to be business managers or politicians.

      It wasn’t as though I had nothing to speak up against. Believe me, there was plenty I wanted to change! The problem was I never thought I really could change anything.

      All I knew was that changing the world sounded pretty far-fetched. What could I, an average person, do anyway? My parents had always reminisced about their generation, which changed the world through rock ’n’ roll. In comparison, my friends and I didn’t seem too interested in shaking things up, or so I thought . . .

      It’s confession time: I hate revision. (Surprise!) When I was studying for my university finals that extremely rainy summer I just could not concentrate. I would take any opportunity to be distracted. Luckily my friends felt the same and were posting articles and obscure documentaries all over their social media feeds that happily sent me down an internet rabbit hole for a long time.

      And that’s when it came to me:

       THE INTERNET IS OUR

       GENERATION’S SUPERPOWER.

       WE HAVE REDEFINED

       THE WORLD BY CREATING

       A NEW ONE ONLINE.

      While the internet has enabled us to fill our time with not exactly valuable activities (hello, kitten videos), it has also given us the power to change the world.

       OUR GENERATION DOES CARE

       ABOUT CHANGING THINGS

       AND SOLVING THE

       INSTITUTIONAL PROBLEMS

       THAT WE FACE BECAUSE

       OF OUR GENDER, RACE,

       RELIGION AND SEXUALITY.

      Just because we’re not doing so through the same means as those before us doesn’t mean that we aren’t already making our own changes in our own, quieter, new ways.

      Eventually I ran out of social media updates. I had to start revising. That made me realize something else. (Come with me down this rabbit hole!) Studying had been impossible for millions of women before me. Women had been excluded from university until barely more than a hundred years ago.

      When I studied at Oxford I felt this sexism. While men have been studying at the University of Oxford since the 1100s,

       IT WAS ONLY IN

       THE 1920S THAT THE

       INSTITUTION DEEMED

       WOMEN WORTHY OF

       ATTAINING A UNIVERSITY

       EDUCATION.

      Although the institution is making efforts to be progressive, there are many reminders of its past. The dining halls are lined with pictures of professors and alumni to inspire students, but almost all are men.

      This got me thinking about politics. Did you know that the word ‘democracy ’ comes from ancient Greek? The very word combines the words demos δῆμος, which means people and kratos κράτος, which means force or power. But when democracy was born – in Athens in the 5th century BCE – you had to be a man of a certain age and class to be considered a person or citizen of your city-state. From the birth of democracy, women were excluded from the very concept.

      Political realities today continue to discourage women from engaging in politics. Less than a third of UK MPs are female.