Photo by Jilbert Ebrahimi on Unsplash
Every year, International Women’s Day celebrates the achievements and contributions of women around the world. However, despite the progress made by decades of women’s rights movements, the reality is that there are still biases and barriers to break.
UBC Theatre and Film has reached out to members of our community for their input on how to #BreakTheBias. As an industry that is so influential, with the capacity to create stories and shape the narratives around marginalized and underrepresented groups, it is critical that we amplify women’s voices and life experiences. Together, we can do better.
Ceanna Wood
Ceanna Wood(she/her)
Current THFL Student
What are some biases that women face in this industry?
That we can only play a certain role or participate so much. In my own personal and professional journeys, I have had to overcome biases like being considered not strong enough or the only one able to do “wifely” duties.
What changes would you still like to see in the community?
I would like to see more women of colour. We have to take away the binary structures around us to let women be who they want freely and independently, so that all women can participate in any activity.
What does International Women’s Day mean to you?
It means a step forward towards change for all women/femme/trans and Two-Spirit peoples.
“I am celebrating this International Women's Day by representing Indigenous women in a space where there are not many of us.”
Jiejun Wu
(she/her)
Marketing and Communications Assistant
What is one bias that you want to challenge this International Women’s Day?
The idea that stories by and about women are, by nature, “women’s” stories. I see this a lot in publishing, with “chick-lit” and “women’s fiction” in particular. Stories about the lived experiences and interiority of women should matter to more folks than just women.
How can we ensure that we address biases within a university setting?
It’s important to continue challenging the idea of the “canon” in our classrooms. I think back to my Victorian literature class: while we studied writers from the canon like Thackeray, what resonated with me was learning about women like George Egerton (Mary Chavelita Dunne), who wrote back against the rigid society they lived in.
“Having a curriculum that included contributions from women artists really illuminated the ways that women have subverted and resisted biases throughout history.”
How are you celebrating this International Women’s Day?
I am celebrating this International Women’s Day by more intentionally seeking out works by women artists. I’ve been meaning to read Jackie Sibblies Drury’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play “Fairview” for quite some time now, so maybe this is my chance!
Sarah Shamash
Sarah Shamash(she/her)
Sessional Lecturer, Film Studies
How can we ensure that we address biases within a university setting?
Hiring women of colour.
What biases have you had to overcome in your own personal and professional journeys?
Sexism, racism and white supremacy.
How are you celebrating this International Women’s Day?
Curating a film program that celebrates matriarchies.
Christine Evans
Christine EvansAssistant Professor, Film Studies
What are some biases that women face in this industry?
In academia, women are frequently considered less rational and trustworthy than male scholars. Even the most well-meaning academics will often relegate women’s scholarly contributions and perceived abilities to a “specialized” category of “female scholarship.” Superficially, this may sound like a good thing but it literally marginalizes women; it pushes their work to the specialized sidelines (“female scholarship”) while male scholars’ work stays in the cool, neutral zone of “real scholarship.”
What biases have you had to overcome in your own personal and professional journeys?
The most frustrating bias I’ve encountered in my professional life is condescension masked as respect. Few academics would openly say that girls are weak, stupid, and hysterical, but it is implied loud and clear by the patronizing assumption that women (and other minorities) might be harmed by and should therefore be protected from certain difficult ideas.
“'Boys' clubs' (and 'white clubs', and 'straight clubs') are very real, but easy to disguise as a kind of intellectual chivalry.”
How can we ensure that we address biases within a university setting?
We must all be prepared to think critically about the ideas that undergird the texts we encounter and make. “Critical thinking” is the opposite of merely feeling morally superior to someone or something (a person, a text, an idea). “Critical thinking” also does not mean joyless or ungenerous thinking, or cancelling the things we deem ‘problematic.’ It means that we excitedly drill down into complicated things like pleasure, desire, fantasy and repression, and their expression in artworks.
Women make up almost 50% of the world population. However, according to the Gender Social Norms Index released by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in 2020, almost 90% of men and women globally exhibit bias against women. This bias takes on many forms and spans every industry and community around the world.
If you identify as a woman and have experienced gender-based oppression, the UBC Women’s Centre offers support services and a safe space for community-building, discussion and resistance. They also offer resources on navigating the intersecting histories of sexual and colonial violence, classism, ableism, racism, homophobia, transphobia and more.
