TED is a media organization founded 33 years ago that shares talks and conferences online. Any ambitious individual with the desire to expand his or her knowledge about nearly anything can freely access this platform that is made up of numerous ideas worth spreading.
Their diverse professional speakers are experts in several areas such as education, human rights, science, visual arts, creativity, technology, and much more.
Being a TED Talk enthusiast, I watched a great number of TED Talks the last few years. Countless of these videos have impacted my way of seeing the world, my actions, and myself.
As a proud supporter of women and girls’ human rights, I came upon five TED Talks about gender equality that everyone needs to watch.
1."We should all be feminists" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
“We teach girls that they can have ambition, but not too much... to be successful, but not too successful.”
In a funny and inspiring way, Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozy Adichie will persuade you to become a feminist. Reminiscing about her personal experiences throughout life, she descriptively shares her views on what is really like to be a woman. Adichie asks us to recognize that there is a gender problem that needs to be fixed. Doing so, she touches upon controversial gender issues such as inequality in the workforce, marriage pressure, loss of virginity, rape, and victim blaming.
2. "Teach girls bravery, not perfection" by Reshma Saujani
"Most girls are taught to avoid risk and failure. We’re taught to smile pretty, play it safe, get all A’s."
The founder of Girls Who Code, Reshma Saujani, encourages mothers, fathers, educators, and you to teach girls to be brave. Through a compelling set of arguments and statistical evidence on the disadvantages of teaching girls to be perfect and advantages of teaching boys to be brave, Saujani draws her audience’s awareness to the complexity of this issue. She mentions that being comfortable with imperfection can make a gigantic impact on girls’ lives and provides inspiring real-life stories of what brave girls have done.
3. "Why gender equality is good for everyone – men included" by Michael Kimmel
“I’m here to recruit men to support gender equality.”
This extremely funny talk will change your views on who benefits from gender equality. Michael Kimmel, the author of Angry White Men, emphasizes that gender equality is a win-win situation. He exemplifies the beneficial effects on countries, companies, and families. He supports his argument by providing evidence about the happiness scale in countries, job satisfaction and job turnover in companies, marriage satisfaction and much more.
4. "For these women, reading is a daring act" by Laura Boushnak
“Be who you want to be not who they want you to be. Don’t accept their enslavement, for your mother birthed you free.”
Laura Boushnak has devoted her life to telling inspiring women’s stories through photography. She believes that their stories can influence other women’s lives. In this five minute thoughtful talk, Boushnak depicts the stories of strong women who fight for their right to education because education is the tool they need to change their own life and finally be free.
5. "Confessions of a bad feminist" by Roxane Gay
"I am a bad feminist. I am a good woman."
This utterly funny and provocative talk about feminism will make you laugh and understand what feminism really is. Roxane Gay, the author of Bad Feminist, acknowledges that women are equal to men and therefore they deserve equal pay, the right to make choices about their bodies, and the right to respect. Gay shares her life experiences to illustrate the life of a feminist and the many obstacles that she encounters along the way. In addition, she explains why she would rather be a bad feminist than not be a feminist at all.
