by Nomad
Writer, actor, and comedian Sandi Toksvig has a brilliant idea. As she explains in this lively TED lecture, her idea is a simple one but one which could change the world.
Why not form a Women's Equality Party?
We want to be the only political party in the world whose main aim was to no longer need to exist... We wanted to be the only political party with no particular political leaning. We wanted people from the left, from the right, from the middle, every age group. Because the whole point was to work with a simple agenda: let's get equality in every aspect of our lives, and when we're finished, let's go home and get the other chores done.
Data from World Economic Forum found that women will finally get equal pay in ...2186! Under the current system, she reckons, women are not going to get equal pay in my grandchildren's grandchildren's lifetimes.
Think of the shame of that.
Think of the shame of that.
It is not enough to found one political party for equality in a single country. What we need is a seismic change in the global political landscape. And the wonderful thing about the model we have created is that it would work anywhere. It would work in America, it would work in Australia, it would work in India.
On Election Day in 1920, millions of American women exercised their right to vote for the first time. It had taken activists and reformers nearly 100 years to win that right. In some ways, it is surprising that the early members of the suffrage movement stopped at merely getting the right to cast their vote.
A Women's Equality Party seems like it would have been the next logical step. Perhaps the idea was that the input from women would by itself have been enough to make equality inevitable.
A Women's Equality Party seems like it would have been the next logical step. Perhaps the idea was that the input from women would by itself have been enough to make equality inevitable.
Can you imagine if we could mobilize millions of women across the world to say, "That's enough!" to the traditional battles of politics? To say, "Stop the bickering, let's get the work done." We could literally change the world.And isn't it time for a change?