To recognise #InternationalWomensDay we sat down with six LGBTQ+ Leaders of Colour from our Queer Collective to hear their personal stories of how they're embracing and reclaiming Intersectional Womanhood in their own lives.
This year's International Women's Day theme invites us all to be BOLD FOR CHANGE; a callout to create a more gender-inclusive world. At We Create Space, we understand that communities cannot be truly representative until they recognise that the experiences of different genders and sexual orientations can be extremely varied. We need new perceptions, real stories and intersectional experiences at the table.
Authentic representation and intersectionality are key.
Dialogue around gender needs to be nuanced and multi-faceted. This means acknowledging that every person has different layers of complexity; allowing them the opportunity to articulate their own unique lived experience.
The history of gender inequality is complex and can be difficult to understand, especially if you are not directly affected. This is why, for this year's #InternationalWomensDay, we wanted to explore intersectionality and womanhood through a series of informal recorded conversations with our own team, in hopes of using their personal stories as a way of educating and evolving all of our discussions and understanding.
Char Bailey (she/her)
“Being a Woman of Colour, Neuro-Divergent, and being fluid in my gender expression impacts everything that I do and how I see the world. This way of being gives me the strength to focus on how I perceive others, having that helps me to thrive in any working environment. It’s not about what’s happening outside, it’s about what’s happening internally within me.”
Tash Thomas (she/her)
“I am really embracing my natural masculine energy, instead of trying to push away from it, I will embrace it and use it as part of my strength."
Eva Echo (she/they)
“Those rigid binary definitions and rules that we grow up learning, they don’t have to be like that. I see it like a map in a computer game, there are only certain parts lit up… the rest is unexplored and dark. What’s beyond that darkness, is more map… you can carry on and it can be safe. By exploring our own map, we allow others to do the same for themselves”.
Coco (they/she)
“You need support to feel at one with yourself. Until I had that, I didn’t know who I was… I was a shell of Coco...Let’s define our own normal.”
Yassine Senghor (she/her)
“I feel liberated and free! People will constantly try to divide us, but that’s a tool of the system. Liberation is us of all coming together, saying we reject that. We will create space for everybody to truly be ourselves."
Alex D'Sa (she/her)
“There will always be people that are more powerful than other, I hope we can come to a point where we are not actively trying stop the liberation of other people."
Today we ask you to reflect on how we could all be a little bolder in our own lives; whether it's speaking out against inequality, standing up for someone who has been marginalised, or living an ideal that we want to see brought into this world. This is work we can all do, no matter what gender we identify with. Remembering that there are as many experiences as there are people.
With special thanks to Liberty London, for being our location partner for this film.
Other credits include:
Filming and edit: producedby.kiran
Music by @divincent_ @anaalogue @lukrembo
WE CREATE SPACE have a developed a tailored set of programmes dedicated to helping organisations become more inclusive for all their employees. To learn more, check out our corporate DEI solutions or contact us through email: hello@wecreatespace.co