Dawn Butler MP, Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities spoke on Saturday at the Women's Conference. In an inspiring and often funny speech, she started by working the audience, getting them to shout: "We are phenomenal women" and to do so every time she raised her arm.
Dawn said that in her new role she wanted to tackle all the injustices. She said this Women's Conference was transitional, moving towards a structure that allowed women to directly influence policy, but it also had the role of "empowering you". She said women should not travel their journey on the backs of women, but should aim to travel on the shoulders of women. Help the woman that's coming behind you. Be a friend of women. We may have a woman PM, but she's no friend of women. 86% of cuts fall on the backs of women, particularly black and disabled women. Since 2010, women's life expectancy has worsened. This government is literally killing us.
No more period poverty
So she committed to helping women and girls who can't afford sanitary products. In the course of their lives, women spend an average 5000 GBP on sanitary products. Young girls miss school. We can eradicate period poverty in a lifetime. Labour will provide free sanitary products to secondary schools, foodbanks, and homeless centres and will pay for this by scrapping Tory vanity projects.
Intersectionality
This is about double, triple, or quadruple discrimination. She said that she was touched by triple discrimination, for being black, for being a woman, and for being young - although she said one of these was not quite such a problem now. Through her own experience, she realised that anything is possible. She ended her speech by quoting from one of her favourite poets, Maya Angelou:Phenomenal Women by Maya Angelou
Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.
I’m not cute or built to suit a fashion model’s size
But when I start to tell them,
They think I’m telling lies.
I say,
It’s in the reach of my arms,
The span of my hips,
The stride of my step,
The curl of my lips.
I’m a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That’s me.
...
The complete poem: ... https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/48985/phenomenal-woman
But when I start to tell them,
They think I’m telling lies.
I say,
It’s in the reach of my arms,
The span of my hips,
The stride of my step,
The curl of my lips.
I’m a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That’s me.
...
The complete poem: ... https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/48985/phenomenal-woman
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