Meet Everyday Sexism

Everyday Sexism’s founder Laura Bates…

Since it was founded in April 2012, Everyday Sexism has made us think twice about those unwelcome comments and instances of sexism we witness on a day-to-day basis. You know, that chap that put a little bit of a downer on your fun night out with friends when he pinched your bum. Or the guy who tells you to ‘cheer up love, it might never happen’. Or perhaps something even more serious and distressing.

Having graduated from Cambridge, Laura Bates worked as an actress; an experience which exposed her to misogynistic treatment and sexism first hand. Frustrated with the media’s fixation on women’s appearance and how normalised sexism seemed to be, she set up Everyday Sexism with the aim of simply giving women a space to catalogue their experiences - anonymously if they wish. By sharing instances of the sexism that takes place everyday, the project proves that sexism does still exist and opens up the issue for discussion.

After the widespread success of the project, Laura now contributes to Women Under Siege and works as a freelance writer, as well as continuing to run Everyday Sexism. We found out more about why sexism is still part of our culture, the aims of Everyday Sexism, and what YOU can do about it.

Why did you set up Everyday Sexism?

To try to expose what I felt was an invisible problem. For too long, I felt that women had been told to stop overreacting, learn to take a compliment and stop making a fuss when they complained about the small, normalised instances of sexism we all put up with and face daily - from street harassment to groping in clubs and bars to offhand sexist remarks and jokes. Not to mention the more serious issues such as the gender pay gap and sexual assault. I spoke to a lot of friends, particularly those working in the city and realised just how severely sexism was impacting on them daily - from clients being entertained in strip clubs to new employees being openly rated on the basis of their looks in the office. And yet there was a real sense of powerlessness - when I asked them what they could do about it they said it was just the way things were and that if they made a fuss, they simply wouldn’t have a successful career ahead of them.

The more women I spoke to, the more overwhelmed I was by the enormity of the problem - and the more I realised the things I’d been covering up and keeping quiet and internalising because we are all so used to being taught that it’s our fault, that perhaps we somehow asked for it, that it’s just part of being a woman - that we rarely stop and shout about it and compare notes. And I wanted everybody to be able to see the birds’ eye view I was getting about just how massive the problem still is, contrary to popular belief that women are ‘more or less’ equal now. I also wanted to show the connections between the whole spectrum of gender imbalance, to show how it is all connected - from ‘minor’ wolf whistles all the way up assault - so that people would stop dismissing the small stuff and brushing it under the carpet.

What does the project involve?

Very simply, it’s a documentation project - women submit their stories online, either directly to the website, or by e-mail or via Twitter. These are then recorded and displayed on the website for everybody to see!

What has been the reaction to Everyday Sexim?

The reaction has been incredible, and much more than I ever dreamed of - within days, stories began trickling in, then the trickle became a flood and before we knew it the media was picking up on the project and it was being reported on and talked about all over the world. I was asked to begin writing regularly for outlets like the Independent, the Huffington Post and the Guardian about the issues and themes being brought up by the project. Everday Sexism has featured in Red Magazine, Cosmopolitan, Glamour, 72M magazine, the Times, the Observer and on ITV and BBC Radio 4, as well as in publications and print media around the world.

Women’s reactions have been astonishing, with nearly 20,000 adding their stories in just ten months and stories now pouring in at the rate of over 1,000 per week. The world has really listened too, with MPs from all three major UK political parties taking an interest, and the project being given an award at the Liberal Democrat conference last year. Hundreds of people email me each week to tell me about the impact the project has had on their lives, from men writing about how it has opened their eyes and made them angry for their daughters, to women who have used it to help them finally speak to their families about sexual harassment and assault they have endured, to those who say it has given them the confidence to start standing up to abusers.

How have men responded to the project?

Overwhelmingly positively - I’ve been deeply touched by the many hundreds who have vociferously supported the project and encouraged others to do the same. From celebrities including Chris Addison and Robin Ince, to fathers, boyfriends, brothers and sons writing of their outrage at the treatment of the women they love, to men simply writing to say how little they realised and how much their eyes have been opened. Many write to say that they hadn’t had any idea of the extent of the problem before, but that now they do they will take action and start being more proactive about tackling it.

Everyday Sexism: for too long now, women have been told to stop overreacting, learn to take a compliment and stop making a fuss…

Is there a personal story that has stood out or affected you in particular?

The stories from young girls probably affect me the most, as it is truly heart-breaking to hear a girl in her early teens explaining how she feels the world values her purely on her looks and her sex appeal. I’m also constantly shocked and saddened by the number of accounts of assault and rape.

Why do you think gender equality still isn’t the norm?

I feel like there’s a real lack of awareness of the scale of prejudice and inequality that still exists, which makes it very hard to fight, as it’s such an invisible problem - women are still frequently told that they should keep quiet and put up with it, as it’s not a big deal and they are overreacting - so I guess a big part of the problem is that so many people believe it is the norm, when the reality is far from it! That’s why I started the project, to try to expose the invisible problem so we could start properly tackling it.

Is there anything that we can do as individuals to help society move towards gender equality?

Standing up! Both men and women, in any situation they see it - from street harassment to sexism in the workplace - can call it out when and where they see it, and simply make the statement that they don’t think it’s acceptable. We need a massive cultural shift in our attitudes towards women and what is and isn’t acceptable - and to do that we need to get out there and tell one another what isn’t okay!

What do you hope to achieve with Everyday Sexism?

To open the world’s eyes to an invisible problem, to prompt dialogue around the issue and how to go about tackling it, and to give women a cathartic, safe space to be taken seriously and believed, whilst also building a sense of community and a cultural movement. Everyday Sexism is about letting women know they are not alone; they can say no, it is unacceptable, they don’t have to put up with it, and that change is coming!

The Everyday Sexism video for the Shorty Awards…