Out In The Open

That F Word

One year after the Women's March, months after #MeToo took off, and fresh off Merriam-Webster crowning 'feminism' as 2017's word of the year, discussion and activism around women and equality are dominating our cultural conversations. And yet, divisions about how effective it's all been — and what feminism should be trying to achieve — continue. This week, Piya asks: How should we talk about feminism today?

One year after the Women's March, months after #MeToo took off, and fresh off Merriam-Webster crowning 'feminism' as 2017's word of the year, discussion and activism around women and equality are dominating our cultural conversations. And yet, divisions about how effective it's all been — and what feminism should be trying to achieve — continue. This week, Piya asks: How should we talk about feminism today?

Here are the stories from this week's episode...

'Everybody you care about has been harmed and touched by this': The impact of #MeToo

​Farrah Khan has spent the last 17 years working to raise awareness of gender-based violence. She admits the flood of #MeToo stories can be difficult to consume, especially as as a survivor of sexual abuse. Still, she thinks it's an important part of helping women feel included in the feminist movement today.

Click here to read and hear the full story.

'It concerns me greatly': Have #MeToo and modern feminism gone too far?

Women and men out on the town on a Saturday night open up about how #MeToo has affected their conversations about gender with loved ones, and how it has them feeling everything from celebratory and excited... to skeptical and alienated.

Click here to read and hear the full story.

Feminism is a layered cake

Akio Maroon thinks we need to talk about and see feminism as a layered cake. When you cut a slice, all of the layers come with it. What that means for Akio is when we look at an issue like pay equity, we don't just see it as a women's issue but as an issue also influenced by class, race, sexuality and more.

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How to talk to men about feminism

Todd Minerson been talking about feminism and gender equality to men for over a decade as the former head of White Ribbon, an organisation of men working to end violence against women. He speaks with Piya about what his experience speaking to everyone from CEOs to high school boys has taught him about how to engage men in feminist conversations.

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What do longtime feminists think of today's feminism?

Michele Landsberg and Sunera Thobani are both career feminists, but both have their own perspectives on modern feminism. Piya asks both of them what the waves they've surfed can teach us about how to move feminist conversations forward today.

Click here to read and hear the full story.