[Smashpatriarchy] Some advice, re: a Sexism in the Workplace Workshop

[reg johanson]

hi chris. i can't really give advice, but i can say that i think these are
good ideas. especially the one about getting an outsider in to do the
workshop. the question about making the workshop mandatory is interesting.
if it's not mandatory, not many will go. if it is mandatory, people will
probably resent it. maybe you can do some work to speak directly to the
problem of resistance / resentment before the meeting.

reg

On Sat, Oct 6, 2012 at 10:31 PM, Christopher Leinonen <
christopher.leinonen at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hey folks!
> So, as I've mentioned, I'll be unable to attend the meeting tomorrow
> (thank you, Reg, for hosting it!), but I do have a question - either for
> the list at large, or for folks to talk about at the meeting (IF there is
> time for you to do so).  Sorry, there's a lot of writing coming up.
>
> As some of you may know, I work in the animation industry.  It's a fun
> job, but the problem is that it's still very much a 'boys club', even
> though more and more women are finding work in the industry.  As such,
> there's a lot of casual sexism and microaggressions that pervade the
> environment.  One of my friends was telling me about some more serious
> stuff that has happened to her or that she's witnessed in the last few
> weeks, and I have decided that I want to try to organize (well, get the
> administration to organize) a workshop about Sexism in the Workplace.
>
> Now, something like this would be most useful, I think, if it were
> mandatory attendance, and that probably means finding a small budget to pay
> everyone for their attendance.  Hopefully there's something in the company
> coffers to cover for it.  Of course, even if we can't swing that, and it is
> only voluntary attendance, I'd still like to get something going.
>
> I want to start by putting a couple anonymous drop-boxes around the studio
> so that people can write down their experiences of sexism (either witnessed
> or direct experience) in the studio.  This will help prove that there's a
> problem, and that the event isn't just being brought up "because it's
> required legal mumbo-jumbo" or whatever.  It'll also help skirt around the
> problem that most women have with reporting sexist behaviour.  That is,
> everyone in the industry is friends with each other (especially the older,
> more sexist, more senior folks) - so reporting it would hamstring their
> careers, if not kill it.
>
> Also, I want to bring in a guest speaker from a group that deals with this
> sort of thing regularly (that runs workshops, etc.)  I feel like it would
> hold more cache, and would be less 'personal', if it were someone else
> coming in.  It'd help avoid the likely problem of no women wanting to run
> it (for fears of sabotaging their careers), and the problem of me as a man
> giving a presentation about how sexism hurts women.  (It MIGHT be useful,
> but I feel like I would also be a lot easier to dismiss, by virtue of my
> relative youth, etc.)
>
> There is a more senior member of the staff who I can float the idea to who
> I think would take it seriously, so I'm hoping it'll fly.  I'm gonna bring
> it up on tuesday or wednesday.
>
> What I am asking of you, is do you have any other ideas for how such a
> workshop could be run, and what sort of things you think I should cover?  I
> know the basic direction that I'd like to take it in, but other ideas are
> good.  And, most importantly, does anyone have connections with people who
> have experience giving these kinds of workshops to large groups of people?
>  I have a friend who might be able to find someone through WAVAW, but any
> leads that you folks might have would help a lot.
>
> Thanks, folks!
> -Chris
>
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