one month of spoke out | saying hello, see us & sexism
3 minute read
Firstly I would like to thank everyone who has kindly supported spoke out during our first month. Whether you’ve liked one of our tweets, become a member or shared our first campaign, I’m so grateful for your help to spread the word.
saying hello
We started out by saying hello and since then lots of friendly people have said hello back. We’ve been amazed by just how many other groups there are who are supporting girls and womxn to get on bikes. It is so nice to be in such wonderful company.
see us
The following week we launched our first campaign – see us – to mark the anniversary of the tragic death of 25 year old Josephine Gilbert who was killed by a lorry driver while cycling on 21st January 2020. We liaised very closely with Josephine’s family to create a sensitive but powerful short film to raise awareness of the importance and need to really ‘see’ girls and womxn who cycle. Thank you to everyone who contributed and respectfully shared it. We also partnered with Vision Zero Derby to encourage people to sign their open letter urging Derby City Council to adopt Vision Zero, a strategy which aims to create a road system with no fatalities. If you haven’t already given our film a watch or signed the letter then go for it, it will only take a couple of minutes of your time but it has the potential to make a big difference.
sexism
One of the reasons I decided to set up spoke out is to create a safe space away from the unacceptable language and behaviour towards womxn and other underrepresented groups that is sadly commonplace in Derby’s cycling sector. I was unfortunately reminded of this at the start of February when I witnessed an openly sexist comment made by a staff member from a major cycling organisation. This was the 10th incident where I have either been the target of and/or witnessed inappropriate language during the 20 months I’ve been involved in Derby’s cycling sector.
I’m not going to go into too much more detail about what happened, mostly as I’m now involved in a grievance procedure as he didn’t take my decision to call it out very well (sadly this usually happens). However, I am really keen to learn if other girls and womxn experience sexism, either just casually when cycling and/or if they find it a potential barrier to starting cycling or getting involved in local groups, campaigning or working in the sector.
I’m going to say something sexist now…
This was how he started his comment in a work meeting with only two other womxn.
In this context, sexism means prejudice, stereotyping or discrimination based on sex or gender. If you have unfortunately experienced this and feel comfortable sharing your experiences, in confidence of course, or if you think more needs to be done about this and would like to see a spoke out campaign that focuses on this issue, then please do get in touch with me.
It has been a busy start and we have more exciting plans coming up. If you have any feedback or reflections on this post or what we’re up to at spoke out, I’d love to hear from you. Or if you would like to contribute to the spoke out blog then just let me know. I’d like this to be a creative and collaborative space to explore all things womxn and cycling related so whether it is photos, poems or punctures, it is more than welcome here.
I appreciate you stopping by and hope you’ll join us to see what we get up to in month two of spoke out.
Stay safe and happy cycling,
Lucy
founder | spoke out
p.s In case you’re wondering what the term ‘womxn‘ means, it is used to avoid perceived sexism in the standard spelling and to explicitly include transgender women and nonbinary people. It is pronounced the same as ‘women’. Initially I used this term throughout all the copy featured on our website and social media channels but it is not perfect so I am still deliberating its usage. If you have any thoughts on this please do also let me know as we’re really open to learning and exploring inclusive language.