HeForShe Campaign Launch
When Googling “gender inequality,” the first articles and statistics that arise describe the gender pay gap. While it is appalling that women are making $0.78 to every male dollar, there are many other focal points for this issue that has its foot in every category of life.
Makina Table, a GW alumn and previous public health student, immedietly focused in on the health concerns that surround the current state of gender inequality, rather than the monetary issues. She cited domestic violence, intimate partner violence, and reproductive health, to name just a few of the issues that intersect at the crossing of gender imbalance.
These instances of imbalance shine brightly when women are denied birth control, employers threaten to fire women for using in vitro fertilization, and insurance companies discuss dropping abortion coverage.
While Table jumped to these issues first while thinking of gender inequality, many of our fellow “Googlers” may not.
Interview: Makina Table
“Feminism isn’t women being above men, it’s not about women being above men at all; it’s about people being equal,” said Lauren King before the HeForShe Campaign Launch.
This statement epitomizes the drive of the HeForShe Campaign, which attempts to erase any stigmas associated with the feminism movement.
Instead of ignoring it, this campaign acknowledges the inaccessbility there currently is for men to involve themselves in feminism practices.
The HeForShe Campaign starts from the basics, meaning they show men they do not have to be outspoken feminism demonstrators; they can make a difference simply by refusing to perpetuate gender steretypes or supporting the important women in their lives.
In this way, without even attending the event, King got to the root of the issue- equality - and realized that feminism is as much about men as it is women.