I had no idea how revolutionary the times were. In 1972, I learned the Chinese saying “Women hold up half the sky.” It represented my dreams and aspirations. What an exciting picture from halfway around the world of women working and collaborating. This was not a world of men, but of men and women, each equal and valuable! The revelatory concept of having international sisters uplifted me and gave me hope.
Women in Conflict Resolution
Throughout the intervening decades it has been my pleasure to learn from many powerful women leaders in the conflict resolution field. In the US the majority of mediators, estimated to be as high as 70% of all mediators, are women. In the international conflict resolution space, women are not as common as in the US. The UN has been working to identify women who are willing to become mediators and has had tremendous success with expanding the role for women mediators, particularly through a community-centric model.
Gender Norms Are Changing
A couple of years ago I was excited to see the Genderbread graphic on the wall of a middle school corridor. So simple and clear. I used this graphic to help my colleagues begin to learn about new concepts about gender and to help us to move beyond what was once commonly accepted as a binary matter. We are learning from the youth and that is as it should be, I think.
When I look at today’s 15-year-olds, I imagine they might not have any idea how revolutionary the times are in which they are living. Our young mediators introduce themselves with their gender pronouns as a method to assist others, because today we know that the concept of gender is a fluid one and no one wants to harm another person by misgendering.
To me in 1975, the idea of women being equal to men was the way that the world was changing around me. For today’s youth, there are new and common expectations for allowing each individual to declare their own gender identity possibly beyond the male/female binary. As conflict resolvers we are eager to embrace any steps forward in self-determination and hope to continue to be part of new advances toward equality. All people, no matter their gender identities, have a shared and important role in holding up the sky.
Read a longer version of this Mediators Musings here.
Take a look at a talk given by Toni Kauffman about Women’s History Month here.