Want to Start Advocating?
We'll show you how!
new/gen At a Glance
a bit of background
this is a project made by students for students. we understand the struggles of balancing school and finding time to help out your community. it takes many hours of research to decide which foundation to volunteer at or which rally you want to go to. we've already done all the work for you. now the information is at the tip of your fingertips.
Creating a Foundation
step-by-step integration
Lay Out Your Plan of Action
creating organizations within your school can be daunting. however, being able to start with a stable foundation within your community can lead you to host a multitude of seminars, information sessions, and rallies in order to get more people involved and educated. the first stage is the assess the issue. there are several internal steps that you must accomplish within this stage.
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begin by assembling a team and creating roles for members. keeping distinct duties for each person is imperative to maintaining a stable leadership.
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identify what problems you are trying to address. lay down a list of difficulties that will come with attempting to solve the problem, and try to find solutions to them. additionally, searching for partnerships with larger organizations supporting the same cause can help you solidify your goals. keep in contact with those organizations as you can expand your reach nationally and even globally.
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figure out the limits to your organization. some questions to ask are: is your organization restricted to just your school or school district? will you require funding and how much will you need? what are some ways to get more people involved in the organizations and is there a member capacity? will you be creating a social media page and who will run it?
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begin to map out different solutions that you could take to resolve the problems that you have identified. remember to start small. it's not always about solving every problem but beginning with an achievable goal that will help you gradually produce change.
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create your organization! keep in contact with affiliate organizations, teacher sponsors, and members of your board. make sure that you have ways to publicize and extend your organization as well as a solid understanding of what your first plan of action is. use research, effective management of time and money, and collaboration to get things done.
Take Action and Compare Results
as you begin to complete the beginning stages of creating your own advocacy, there should be a couple of things to keep in mind. advocacies are not difficult to establish and can be done alone. it's recommended that you be able to reach out to other community members; however, this is not a necessity for having a successful project. additionally, your cause can be about anything. our website is specific to women's rights; however, it can be used to further any movement that you wish to pursue. we just ask that you have positive advocacy that seeks to enrich and better the lives of people around you.
the finishing stages of building your organization are taking action and evaluating the progress that you have made. at this point, you are free to take your project to new heights and do with it as you please. if you would like to create posters on Canva and hang them up on your school's bulletin board, feel free to do so. if you want to talk with your school's administration about sex education within your curriculum and changes you would like to make, you should bring that up! always remember to keep in mind the abundance of resources around you and use them to the full extent. good luck!
What is Advocacy?
a rundown on the terms and meaning
Define Advocacy
advocacy means having a set of tasks and activities taken to influence policies and spur political and societal change. there are different kinds of advocacies; however, our mission stands to empower people by providing them with the resources they need to start advocating.
Why Advocacy?
we believe that starting projects with incremental reform and education is the best way to inspire advocacy at a young age. advocacy is the best tool for creating material change. for example, as cited by WomanKind, the Afghan Women's Network, as well as the Afghan Women's Education Center, were two advocacy groups that worked together to prevent a law that would have legalized child marriage.
What is Feminist Advocacy?
feminist advocacy stems from creating communities of care within areas where there may be hostile conditions to women's rights. it's about promoting the fundamental right of all genders and ensuring gender equality. feminist advocacy can differ from other kinds of advocacy in that there are components of education, policy change, and encouragement created by working with people who want to fight for women's rights.
Understanding Relations with Power
the specifics of female empowerment
Public Realm
Structural Inequalities
the public realm is the overarching gendered system of power that we have today. it's why women only earn 81 cents for every dollar a man makes. it also maintains the lack of female representation within politics. women have to be overqualified to have an electability chance against male candidates and are less likely to run when there is a lower chance of winning. the structural issues that exist within the government cannot be resolved by simply adding 'more women' to positions of power; rather, there must be a significant reconfiguration of power structures in order to make progress.
Private Realm
Power in Relationships
the private realm of power is found in romantic and familial relationships. within the standard of the nuclear family, the father is expected to be the provider of the household and the mother must play the role of the primary caregiver. family roles play an exceptional part in creating gendered positions for women and try to establish standards for the 'perfect mother' or the 'perfect wife.' not only do these enforce heteronormative behavior and cisgender norms, a burden of shame placed on women when they fail to meet these arbitrary standards or are unable to conform to the role. the private realm is constantly overlooked, which is why organizations that help survivors of domestic abuse and provide education that breaks free from conventional gender roles are critical to creating a radical future.
Intimate Realm
Struggle with Self
the last realm of power is the intimate, and this deals with struggles of internalized misogyny and perception of one's self-image. the self-confidence encouraged by many empowerment pages attempts to create an environment that encourages women to adopt a positive outlook on their sense of self. there's a lot of beauty standards and body standards that serve to undermine women who don't fit within those expectations. women are expected to be attractive and maintain a level of perfection, all the while required to perform better than men if they want to succeed. breaking down these barriers can start small and working within one's self is the most effective way to start shutting down barriers.
Information Cited from WomanKind and NEA's 'The Road to Student Success'