A #PledgeForParity Event at the US Ambassador’s Residence in London

It’s always and forever International Women’s Day here at TrowelBlazer Towers. One of the things we’ve been trying to do a little bit more of is to use the amazing platform we’ve got here to push the world more towards the shape we’d like to see it in.* That means talking about the lessons we’ve picked up from our own experiences, and those that people have shared with us, to make big giant bullet points that we repeat ad nauseum until people stop telling kids what they can and can’t be when they grow up based on their biological phenotype.

For #IWD2016 this year, I won the raffle to accompany the fantastic Suw Charman-Anderson of the Finding Ada Project to the official residence of the US Ambassador to the UK.

Suw Charman-Anderson and Brenna chilling with a fern and a portrait of George Washington.

Ambassador Matthew Barzun and his wife Brooke do immense amounts of work to promote women in leadership, in science, and regularly host events at Winfield House, in swank-tastic Regent’s Park, that bring together some very impressive people.

Winfield House/ Scenes from Winfield House - of course there is a skateboard ramp #USA /Brenna’s personal favorite thing: dress made of 10,000 adamantine dressing pins in the Green Room

Over the course of the day, I met women with a lot of letters before and after their names; women representing their countries, their companies, universities, themselves – the guest list was a roll call of achievement (and me). Ambassador Barzun led a fascinating dialogue that allowed each of us to reflect our own experiences, before refereeing a wide ranging discussion of how the hell you get to equality from here.

Key Things:

• Get a mentor. Be a mentor. Networks matter.

The women we spoke to were pretty unanimous in affirming what we here at TrowelBlazers have said for a long time. It takes support to infiltrate a foreign culture, be it the Academy or a Fortune 500 company; mentors are critical to getting you that internship / training / interview. So start a conversation, ask for a 15 minute coffee, find a mentor. And when that bright eyed undergraduate comes knocking at your door, don’t just turn off the overhead lights and hope to god no one saw you come in – she may not have anyone else to help her out.

• Role models reset imaginations.

This is such a TB obsession…for a reason. So many of the women at Winfield House talked about how important it was to see and be seen, just to let the next generation know what can be possible. It’s critical to support (read- don’t make fun of or generally denigrate the time spent on outreach) staff/employees who are willing to go that extra mile to widen participation because IT AINT HAPPENING OTHERWISE OK? And don’t forget you can’t just expect someone to want to do outreach, or to make a *deal* about being a woman / minority / under-represented group. Support those who do, but remember that’s an extra burden.

In the spirit of advice recounted from President Obama, sometimes you need to ‘just listen’; so here’s some of the things we heard:

• Solidarity is key - bringing together different disadvantaged sectors can make any one group more of an ally of the others.
• Hearts and minds can be changed, and the dinosaurs are dying out; it’s too shameful to be seen as a misogynist these days…and that’s a good thing.
• Unconscious bias training is absolutely critical to reshaping attitudes

Finally, the Embassy staff asked participants 'What would you tell your 20 year old self?’.

Apparently my answer? Let your hair grow long ;)

Reportagery by Brenna.

*Essentially, the shape of a woman in a fancy hat wielding a mattock sliding down a pyramid.

return-of-foreverr:

v1b3ch3ckl0s3r:

goodgirl81:

deadlymodern:

anonymousmothman:

im-actually-ok:

witcheshaven:

queerwitched:

guiltyidealist:

twilightt-fantasy:

uncleromeo:

gaylittlepieceofsh1t:

ghostspaceships:

bando–grand-scamyon:

drankinwatahmelin:

feministism:

4. If the car pulls up to you run in the opposite direction.

5. Walk with your keys in your hands and keep a key between each finger

6. If they put you in the trunk kick out the headlights

7. If you get lost find a woman with a child. Never ask a man for help (this one was drilled)

That scream fire piece of advice is literally life saving

8. Watch your shadows and reflections, especially if someone is walking behind you. A split second notice is better than none and will help you.

Yes this last one really saves lives y'all I do it all the time

girls have to learn to view the world like international intelligence agents just to be safe walking down the street. smh.

guys pls pls pls reblog and girls pls pls pls be safe out there. terrifying and so sad that we have to worry about this on a daily basis

(I’m an enby, but, frankly, this is helpful for anyone.)

- always tell someone where youre at and an approx time when youll be back

Add text replacement words in your phone if possible. Something short and memorable that you can send quickly to people in moments of emergencies.

E.g.

I f ing hate that we need to reblog this, people suck, but this will save lives.

DO NOT SCROLL PAST

Being female fucking sucks but yes this shit is important for everyone

Also, do not walk close to walls. It will be easier for someone so walk past you and push you against it or corner you.

If your gut is telling you to cross the street or change your path, do it. Don’t risk it. Your body knows.

If you can, buy a large umbrella and walk holding it. Studies say that predators are less likely to attempt an attack on someone that could fight back. Keys around your knuckles is fine but you’ll need to get very close to do damage. Umbrellas are more precise.

Avoid wearing headphones if you are alone on an empty street. Look aware.

Again: Stay. Away. From. Walls.

Entering an uber alone? Call your father (or anyone you trust) and say “hey dad! Yep, I’m almost there, I’m sending you the route.” outloud. Then proceed to send them the route so they can follow the uber drive. This will most likely intimidate the predator.

If you see someone in an uncomfortable or possibly dangerous situation, walk up to them and say “Betty, oh my god, I haven’t seen you in so long!”. If she gets slightly confused, you can whisper and let her know you’re trying to help and that she should follow along. Walk together to another station or away from where you are. The man will most likely not follow. I have done this one 2 times and can be very helpful.

If you are unsure she needs help, you can pass her a note saying something like “hey, I noticed this man beside you is making you uncomfortable. If you’d like help, fake a sneeze right now and I will come up to you and pretend we are friends.” This is a long note, but its an example. Be discrete. If she follows along, proceed with the previous tip. This is helpful when you’re in a crowded train and you notice harassment.

Help your sisters. Trust them. Trust yourself. Be safe.

If you ever feel unsafe or need help, anyone is welcome to run upto me and ask me for help! I’ll go all mama bear and keep you safe!!!

https://docs.google.com/document/d/166g6Vo8Fb9H3FIZF2H6faEBHtFQSf7nVn_QxcJ9NMi0/edit?usp=sharing

I made this google doc covering 14 different self defense tips and tricks. it was made on January 15th, 2020 so it was before I decided I’d come back to tumblr jhjshdbjfh.

EVERY TIME I SEE THIS I REBLOG BECAUSE THIS IS SUPER IMPORTANT!!!!!

In Marvel comics, Deadpool is far from the only character to break the fourth wall. And he wasn’t the first. She-Hulk, aka Jennifer Walters, the lawyer cousin of Bruce Banner that premiered in 1980, was the first. And in her second series, The Sensational She-Hunk, it was her thing. Commenting constantly on the writing of the comic, her own objectification, as well as marvels fan-base, she was one to often (literally) peel back the layers of her own pages. Practically every cover of The Sensational She-Hulk was a fourth-wall break, and funny ones at that.