Consultation: | Young Greens AGM 2020 |
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Agenda item: | H.5. Women |
Proposer: | Seren Parri (Birmingham) |
Status: | Published |
Submitted: | 07/29/2020, 00:12 |
LB5: Seren Parri
Which role are you applying for?
- Which role are you applying for?:
- Young Greens Women Non-Portfolio Officer
Candidate Statement
Misogyny does not affect us all equally, nor in the same manner. It goes without saying that women are all manner of people, whether feminine or not, across all races and cultures, cis and trans, in poverty and in wealth. Unfortunately, much of the ways we are united are in the daily adversity we must face, from the violent to the subliminal, with the core indoctrination that our gender is limiting. We may have seen a female prime minister, and we may have a female head of state, yet our childhoods and the media still reinforce patriarchal requirements that we must be nurturing and beautiful, that the worst things we could be accused of are being “bossy” or “mean”. We have been taught to expect demeaning remarks as we walk down the street, and to be responsible for the aggression of men by restricting how we dress and behave.
For the past year I have been the Secretary for the University of York Green Party Society, and I am looking forward to continuing next year following my re-election. I’ve gained great experience as a member of a committee, particularly in discussion and organisation-based tasks, and I’ve become highly enthusiastic about sending emails, as I’m perhaps too excited with the range of formatting the green party branding allows for. Since the age of sixteen I’ve been trying to integrate awareness for the climate emergency into my surrounding communities, including my secondary school and at my local climate strikes, where I have been vocal in using my skills as well as my privileges to communicate the necessity for both social and climate justice.
A lot of my interests are in what regressive stereotypes would call “feminine spheres”, including Theatre and in my studies in English Literature, yet even here sexism excels. Our texts are, more often than not, written by men, and it is rare a female character is not a love interest or a mother. In every seminar the loudest voice is always a man’s, someone who hasn’t had the years of conditioning to keep quiet, to not seem conceited, to not take up too much space. Sexism is everywhere, most aggressively in the threats and actions against our safety and wellbeing. Beyond that it is covert and ingrained, and that’s why I believe having a women’s group in the Green Party is so important, particularly in the Young Greens. One of the worst aspects of the patriarchy is how we internalise its teachings, forcing us to become unwitting enforcers of the sexism that hurts us. In so many young women there is a systematically induced self-resentment and lack of confidence, and having a robust and active liberation group dedicated to women’s issues and representation allows us to directly combat this. As a committee member I would strive to create a safe space for women that focuses both on protection of our rights and positive reinforcement of what we are capable of, forcing the space to be made for us to take a lead in the Green Party and in the wider, patriarchal world of politics.
Links
Self-identification
- Do you self-identify as belonging to this Liberation Group? (Yes/No/Unsure):
- Yes
- Local Party:
- Birmingham