But here I am now, on a dreary Tuesday morning, about to do that very thing. Forgive me.
Last week, my friend and I were wandering around Grafton St, celebrating finishing an exam by looking at things we can't afford to buy (the number one item on the wish-list is now a €50 Eeyore teddy in the Disney Store, followed by a Tom Ford handbag. #priorities). We ended up in BT2 at one stage, where, to my surprise, I found myself absolutely incensed by a t-shirt.
nice, Religion, nice.
Now, I'm not an easily offended person, and I've never viewed myself as a fervent feminist. Certainly I never expected an inanimate object to be the heel that spurred me into blogging indignantly about gender bias and women's rights - and, to be honest, as an isolated event, seeing this t shirt probably would have inspired merely a look of disgust and a passing comment to my friend. But one week before this, whilst attending the One Young World summit, I had listened to a group of amazing women discussing gender equality, and after hearing them speak, even the most spank-inclined man would have to drop his poised palm in shame.
The One Young World summit, which took place this year in Dublin from the 15th-19th of October, celebrates talented young people who are dedicated to making positive change in the world. Over the five days, there were speeches, debates and panel discussions from these young people and also from world leaders such as Kofi Annan, Mary Robinson and Bob Geldof. I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to attend for one day as a student observer (and any Trinity students out there reading this, you had the opportunity too - all you had to do was read that weekly SU email you're so quick to delete ;) ).
The Convention Centre Dublin, where the Summit took place.
There were superb sessions taking place on the day that I attended. Kofi Annan spoke on Peace and Conflict. Micheal Moller, acting head of the UN in Geneva, spoke about the UN's ability to rise to the challenges of today. Six young delegates gave moving speeches about violations of human rights in their countries, which ranged from forced military conscription in Eritrea to homophobia in England. The session that I enjoyed the most, however, was the panel discussion on 'Bridging the Gender Gap'. There were six women on the panel; Sabine Chalmers from AB InBev, Beth Comstock from General Electric, Youtube sensation Michelle Phan, Meghan Markle who you may know as Rachel from Suits, film director Maya Sanbar and co-founder of One Young World, Kate Robertson.
These women have achieved so much for gender equality, on both a small-scale and a global level; from small steps like Meghan Markle refusing to repeatedly appear on screen in Suits wearing nothing but a towel, to Beth Comstock's involvement in setting up a call centre in India that hires only women. I didn't come away from that discussion feeling enraged on behalf of my gender, or convinced that men are the devils holding us back in life. Instead, I felt inspired and empowered, and thoroughly in awe of those six women. They gave me a view of gender equality that I had not considered before; the positives, the advances that have been made and that are continuously being made around the world. When I saw this t-shirt, I immediately thought back to them and how aggravated they would be if they saw it.
Maya Sanbar, seen holding the microphone in the above picture, recounted a conversation she had had with Reese Witherspoon about some of the actress's latest projects. Reese, who we all know as the sterotypical blonde-haired ditzy heroine, was telling Sanbar how glad she was that she was finally getting the opportunity to play roles that were more challenging and interesting - but the only reason that she is getting this opportunity is because she made a name for herself by playing the Elle Woods and Melanie Smooters of Hollywood demand. Sanbar criticised the way that women are very often forced to fit themselves into the mould just to be in a position to break out of it - and it is things like this Religion t-shirt that help to shape this mould and this stereotype. Yes, I know it's just a t shirt, it's a bit of a laugh, there's no need to take it seriously - but when we are surrounded on all sides by these derogatory thoughts and images, in advertising, in music videos, even on our clothing, unbeknownst to us it creates a societal norm and a belief that this is acceptable. How many of you ladies out there have walked across a nightclub and had your bum slapped by a drunken male who has gotten it into his head that he has the right to take that liberty? He might not have been wearing the t-shirt, but chances are he had the slogan tattooed unapologetically across his face.
I'm not yet at the level of vehement opinionist that I will sit here and rant about how women like Nicki Minaj are setting the female sex back 40 years - although to be fair, the lyrics and the video for her song Anaconda are offensive to pretty much everything and everyone in the world. Bar maybe Drake - and I know I'm not saying anything new in this post that hasn't been said before. But that t-shirt did ignite some new feelings in me - mainly because it tarnishes the efforts of these women above and insults the positive mindframe that their stories gave me. And those women above are proof of the benefits that come from turning these feelings into action, however big or small.
So it ain't gonna spank itself, no - but who said I was asking?
