Did you know International Women's Day is Tuesday, March 8th? Did you know there even was a such thing as International Women's Day? In Bangkok, there's a group dedicated to making sure people know about things like these: it's called Bangkok Rising, and it's a group that supports the global group, One Billion Rising. One of the girls I work with is part of the group and invited me to participate in the traveling flash mob they were putting together. We teamed up with another group, Capoeira Angola Bangkok, and brought together over 50 people for the flash mob. Capoeira Angola is a traditional African-Brazilian art form that combines music, dance, acrobatics and philosophy. We started at Benchasiri Park with a traditional Capoeira piece and then moved into the flash mob dance. After, we traveled to Siam Square Mall to perform and finally ended with a performance at Central World Mall. The day wasn't about putting anyone down, or getting in anyone's face or screaming and shouting "feminists" from the rooftops. It was about men and women of all ages coming together and doing something. together. It was about feeling empowered. It was about feeling connected. It was about feeling good.
In celebration, we posted photos of the event on our social media pages. Bloggers made some incredibly hateful comments toward the women in our photos. Instead of using social media to slander or shame or retaliate, Buzzfeed wrote an article featuring the men's rude and hateful comments. The need for puff or pizzazz was entirely noexistent: these comments spoke for themselves and brought about more awareness than ever regarding the importance of International Women's Day and groups, like One Billion Rising, that celebrate and support women everywhere.
http://www.buzzfeed.com/bangkokrising/6-ways-sexism-showed-itself-just-in-time-for-inter-27w24
In celebration, we posted photos of the event on our social media pages. Bloggers made some incredibly hateful comments toward the women in our photos. Instead of using social media to slander or shame or retaliate, Buzzfeed wrote an article featuring the men's rude and hateful comments. The need for puff or pizzazz was entirely noexistent: these comments spoke for themselves and brought about more awareness than ever regarding the importance of International Women's Day and groups, like One Billion Rising, that celebrate and support women everywhere.
http://www.buzzfeed.com/bangkokrising/6-ways-sexism-showed-itself-just-in-time-for-inter-27w24
Nice that you were able to participate, sounds like a cool experience!
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