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World Tales
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Activists by Nature
by Cristina Page
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I had had enough. Enough of hearing “No, you can’t do this. No, you can’t have that, not until you do this,” and on and on. I dragged a chair over to the closet, climbed up on it, and pulled the suitcase down from the top shelf. I unzipped it and threw in my best dress and a bikini. (I guess the logic was, that in addition to the clothes I had on, in order to enter into the world solo, all I needed was one formal dress and a bikini) I walked past my parents who were sitting in the living room, lifted my chin in defiance and said, “I’m leaving. Don’t come looking for me!” Out the front door I went. I circled the block for about 40 minutes (I wasn’t allowed to cross the street alone), stopped to look at some millipedes, and ate a few mulberries off the tree in front of Mr. Crowley’s house. Then I realized I was being trailed by my mother. This wasn’t hard to figure out because she was driving a station wagon the size of Air Force One.
The point of this story is this: We all understand, and know how to stage, an effective protest (even when we don’t know we know). We are affected by the power of authority on a daily basis and, sometimes, feel like we have little influence on decisions made about our own lives. Basic forms of activism come naturally to us. We use them, often very productively, to fight for our rights and against our voicelessness.
In the incident above, I demonstrated the use of running away as a tactic to highlight injustice. In activist circles, this is known as a “Walk-Out,” usually done in group form. It is one of the most powerful forms of activism used by workers when work conditions are abusive. The rationale is, “If we all leave, and hence, stop working, then they’ll realize how important we are.”
Here is another classic that I think will sound familiar: Throw a tantrum! In activist words, this is called a “Speak-Out.” And as activists, we carry signs, and sometimes hand out fliers that explain why we are marching and shouting. Tantrums or rallies--both forms of protest have the same result: They create a spectacle that calls attention to, often in public places, the fact that someone, or some group, has a really big problem with someone or something. And they want as many people as possible to know about it and to do something. Remember how well this worked in supermarkets when you were little?
When I was a teenager, I got grounded for something or other, probably mouthing off. I was used to this happening occasionally, but this particular grounding coincided with an event I felt I could not miss. Don’t laugh, but I think the band Duran Duran was coming through town, and my best friend’s parents had promised to take us to the airport, so we could scream and cry (not in protest but in love) as they got off the plane. So, of course this called for extreme measures. I started a petition and circulated it around my junior high school. By the end of the week, I presented my parents with a letter requesting that my grounding “be lifted or postponed due to extraordinary circumstances.” The petition was signed by 110 of my peers. My parents were stunned. They reconsidered my punishment. They would postpone the grounding, so that the choir of 13-year-old girl voices at the airport gate included my own.
To protest against injustice is innate and natural. And it really can change things. It isn’t until people “mature” that they are made to feel uncomfortable about speaking up and fighting for what they feel is right. It is important to always be conscious of what people in positions of authority are doing--whether it’s saying you can’t wear a certain shade of lipstick or the t-shirt of your favorite band to school, searching your locker, or making you feel uncomfortable by treating you like a sex object. Question everything that doesn’t feel right. Protest what you want changed. If you don’t do it, who will?
Some Ideas to Ignite Your Inner Activist
Idea #1: Are the guys’ sports teams at your school given more respect and recognition than the girls’ teams? Do they get more coverage in the student paper, or even the local paper? If so, here are some ways to make your school a place where girl jocks rock.
Stage a girlcott: Meet with the cheerleaders and explain your position. Ask for solidarity: that they not cheer at any of the guys games until the problems with girls’ sports (lack of funding, little coverage, whatever it is at your school) are changed. Encourage all the girls in your school not to attend the guys’ games until the girlcott is over and your demands have been met. Send petition letters to the girls’ teams at all the other area high schools and to famous female athletes asking them to sign on. Have that letter and those names published in your school paper, your local paper, television, and radio.
Before long you’ll be pouring gallons of Gatorade over each others heads and doing a victory dance in the touchdown zone.
Idea # 2: Okay, what’s up with the fact that they don’t teach women’s studies in high school? Why is it that we rarely hear about the achievements of women in history? Here are some ways of making history by demanding herstory:
March. Women’s history month is March. Maybe it is a coincidence, but then again maybe not. Organize a “march” of girls in your high school during women’s history month to call attention to the fact that women are absent from most of the history class material you’re taught the rest of the year. March with a picture of a great woman who you haven’t been taught about (but should have been). Invite well-known women in your area to attend the march.
Idea #3: When you see commercials or shows that you feel portray women and men in stereotypical ways - don’t just change the channel, change the programming.
Organize a letter-writing campaign. The one network which caters to teenagers is MTV. Recently, MTV has begun to realize that teenage girls exist and has tried to create programming with young women in mind, as well as promote women artists. Still, women are often portrayed in seriously sexist ways. Advertisers hate to find out that they are helping promote something which insults half their consumer base. Find out which companies run commercials during the programming in question. Write them a letter explaining why you think they should pull their ads out of respect for women. You could also add that you’ll pass on their products if they don’t.
Idea #4: Volunteer for a woman candidate’s political campaign. There is nothing like the frenzy of a campaign headquarters. It’s exciting work that looks great on a college application, but there is something even more valuable to gain by working for a woman candidate’s campaign. There is a unique and contagious form of self-esteem which comes from helping a woman win. Since there are so few women in elected positions in our country, you learn first hand how to change history. Since women politicians are much more likely to understand women’s lives (and they are the ones who often create pro-women legislation): you begin to understand that by campaigning for a woman candidate, you are helping to change our society. Not only that, by seeing a woman run for political office, and knowing what it takes to do it, it brings you closer to one day doing it yourself. When her campaign is a victory, it should make sense that you run for office in your student government. Somewhere out there right now is the future President of the United States - and she has a lot of victories to win on her way there.
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About
the Author |
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Cristina Page
: Cristina Page is Action Vice President of NYC NOW (National Organization of Women) and the editor of The Smart Girl’s Guide to College (Noonday Press).
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