Speak Up!. Laura Coryton

Finally, sTeP fIVE will give you the

       confidence to plan your launch.

      I had a lot of success in my campaign, but I also had a lot of knockbacks. I think it’s really important to talk about failing and how to BOUNCE BACK.

      It’s not easy, but with help I managed it. We’ll also cover a very modern and very unpleasant phenomenon: TROLLS. In Chapter 3 we’ll talk about how you can use trolls to your advantage. Their biases can empower your voice and legitimize your campaign. Never let them knock your campaigning confidence.

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      I’vE saId It bEFOrE aNd

      I’LL sAy It aGaIn:

      IF I cAn dO It,

      If tHeY cAn dO It,

      So CaN YoU!

      If you really care about an issue, don’t hold back. Make a change. Ask yourself who else will speak up about your issue if you don’t.

      NoW Is yOuR

      tImE tO

      sPeAk uP!

      Channel your inner Emma Watson and speak up about what you believe in. Emma launched the HeForShe campaign at 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.

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      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.

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      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.

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      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.’

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      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.

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      E

      y

      E

      -

      r

      O

      l

      L

      !

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      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.

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      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.

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      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.

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      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.

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      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.

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      This