Every Statement Needs a Platform

Images ©PILAA

When Should Your Company Speak Up About a Social Issue? was an article published in 2020 in the Harvard Business Review by Paul A. Argenti, Professor of Corporate Communication at Dartmouth College’s Tuck School of Business. He stated that over the last four years, organisations had been under pressure in some respects, “from their constituencies — employees, customers, investors, and the communities in which they operate — to take a public stand on high-profile political and social movements.” (1)

It is not every issue that a company or its executives should or can speak out on, indeed there are both social, moral and business-related reasons why it may be worth doing so, or similarly detrimental to the objectives of the business. If the controversies in the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar have taught us anything, it’s that making a statement is a complex and politically charged issue, far removed from the sport itself. We saw multiple teams from various countries making statements, in order to show solidarity and to speak out against; the mistreatment of migrants and workers, who had reportedly died whilst building the stadiums. Two, the poor humanitarian record in the country and lastly, the criminalization of LGBTQ communities and their rights.

Teams of players and individual figures made statements that ranged from small to large gestures, to those which were potentially risky, if not unsafe. The captains of seven of the European teams, including England’s Harry Kane, were to make a statement by wearing the ‘OneLove’ armband to promote diversity and inclusion. This was however disbanded, due to alleged threats from FIFA, which would have saw the captains penalised, if found to be wearing them. FIFA in fact made their own anti-discriminatory armband, which players could wear instead.

When silence speaks volumes

In their opening game against Iran, England’s men’s team took the customary ‘taking the knee’, which over the last couple of years, has been used as an anti-racist statement, following the death of George Floyd in May 2020. In this context, and of late, it has been used as a gesture to promote diversity and inclusion. You then had the German men’s team, that aptly covered their mouths, whilst taking a team photograph. This was done, said Head coach Hansi Flick, to convey the message that FIFA, the football world governing body was silencing them.

Finally, “when silence speaks volumes,” is probably the motto that could be used to describe, perhaps the riskiest statement, which came from the Iranian Men’s team, who refrained from singing their national anthem, in their opening game against Japan. In what was seen as an extraordinary gesture and a clear sign of dissent, Captain Ehsan Hajsafi, said that their non-participation was to mark the ongoing trouble in their country. This followed the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, the young woman who died in police custody in September 2022, for not wearing a hijab (2) in accordance with the Iranian government’s laws.

    “They should know that we are with them, we support them, and we sympathise with them.”                                                                                                     – Ehsan Hajsafi, Captain, Iran’s Men’s team

The reason why this statement was particularly extraordinaire, was because of where it took place. It was on Qatari soil, with Qatar being key allies to Iran. This was also a Senior player, who dared to speak out on political issues in the country, which suggested that he and the team sided with the protestors, whilst opposing the Iranian government. This was indeed a powerful, yet politically charged message.

It’s also worth noting that not everyone will agree with statements being made. That was certainly the case for countries in other parts of the world. For example, the same statement by Germany, was seen as ‘insulting’ and ‘provocative’ in parts of the Arab world, where the hashtag #Germany-Japan was trending in Arabic. (3) There were also ex footballers, and politicians like the UK Foreign Secretary, James Cleverly, and the FIFA president Gianni Infantino who called for players and fans visiting Qatar, to respect and follow the rules of the land.

Historically, there is a long tradition of sports and politics intersecting. One of the most iconic instances, would be the 1968 Olympics ‘Black Power salute’. This was by African American athletes, Tommie Smith who was the gold medallist of the 200 metres and John Carlos who won the bronze, where upon standing on the podium, both raised a black-gloved fist during the playing of the US national anthem. This was a statement that despite popular understanding, was not just about addressing black rights per say, but rather, about human rights (4). Cementing this point, all three athletes, including Peter Norman, the Australian who finished second behind Smith, wore human-rights badges on their jackets.

What is clear from these past and present cases, is that statements can take on different forms, shapes and sizes, yet they all need a platform to be seen, heard or even felt.

 

To read the full article, “Every Statement Needs a Platform: Guidance For When to Make a Statement”, you must be a PILAA Member.

 

Notes:

(1) Argenti, P (2020). When Should Your Company Speak Up About a Social Issue? Harvard Business Review [https://hbr.org/2020/10/when-should-your-company-speak-up-about-a-social-issue]

(2) It’s worth noting here that next month on the 1st of February, is World Hijab Day (WHD) in recognition of millions of Muslim women who choose to wear the hijab and live a life of modesty.

(3) 3, BBC: Iran’s Ehsan – BBC Sport, (November 2022) World Cup 2022: Iran’s Ehsan Hajsafi speaks out over conditions in his home country [Access https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/63696125]

(4) Lewis, R (2006). “Caught in Time: Black Power salute, Mexico, 1968”. The Sunday Times. London. [https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/caught-in-time-black-power-salute-mexico-1968-kpw6zfw78lh]

October is ADHD Awareness Month

ADHD is one of the most common mental health conditions affecting children and adults. But it is often misunderstood. ADHD Awareness Month’s goal is to correct these misunderstandings and highlight the shared experiences of the ADHD community.

What is ADHD?

Approximately 4% of adults have been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). There are three types:

 

Our Research Associate Jeremy Lyons is proud to be part of that community. He revels in overcoming barriers having been presented to him, in primarily navigating unforgiving spaces with ADHD and dyslexia. One in three from the community have both ‘comorbid conditions’ and are six times more likely to be diagnosed with a mental illness. In addition:

  1. depression, often due to executive dysfunction impairs key parts of work, education or home life
  2. generalised anxiety happens often due to excessive worry, which partially combats inattentiveness
  3. social anxiety, often when ADHD traits like impulsivity, inattention and different thinking styles impair social functioning
  4. OCD-like cycles, often since fixations and excessive checking partially combats inattentiveness and disorganisation

The above does not account for many others who struggle without any recognised diagnosis and therefore no support. Unlike physical challenges, ADHD isn’t visible, so individuals with ADHD often feel unsupported, unwanted, and misunderstood. From the child at school struggling to keep up with the rest of their friends, to the office worker feeling like they don’t belong.

In an interview on the Time to Talk podcast about student mental health, Jeremy Lyons spoke of his experiences overcoming the challenges he faced at school as a result of his neurodiversity being dismissed as just an ‘excuse’. “I remember for GCSE English I was bottom of set 7, a teacher even told me my work looked like it had been written by a foreign child. So I decided to learn the same way as the students for whom English was a foreign language and write down any words I could not understand in a separate book. When it came to the exam, I watched the film of our book instead of struggling to read it and that same teacher had to ask if the school could use my paper to teach as I scored an A* in literature and an A in language.”

This experience taught Jeremy that thinking differently can be exactly what sets you apart from the rest. This really became apparent when he was able to get a diagnosis for Dyslexia and ADHD, as now he has the key to further understand his difference and the ability to empower others to do the same. He now has two master’s degrees and continues to raise awareness acting as an advocate and trainer. Showing work emphasizes the importance of understanding neurodiversity, which cannot only prevent poor mental health but also bring out hidden strengths within our workforce.

The main challenge for someone with ADHD carrying out tasks that rely on executive functions relate to:

● Memory

● Organisational Skills

● Time Management

● Managing Stress

● Concentration

● Listening & Taking Notes

These challenges often lead to discrimination, low productivity and absenteeism, however we suggest the following tips you can take to help support in these areas:

Work outcomes broken up into clear SMART goals

  • Structure and accountability
  • Concentration breaks
  • Flexible working (remote, hybrid options)
  • Medication
  • Therapy

It is equally important to empower ADHD-ers to utilise their strengths such as;

  • Hyperfocus productivity
  • Crisis management
  • Creativity
  • Conversational skills and empathy
  • Problem-solving
  • Passion and enthusiasm

Resources:

Useful Resources

 

At PILAA we carry out neurodiversity impact assessments for organisations. If interested in learning more about what this entails, in order to create a more inclusive environment for neurodivergent employees, please get in touch with us!

What’s the Diverse in Diversity?

Consciously Doing EDI

We have been seeing a growing trend of organisations and institutions doing work in the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) arena. In fact there have been many iterations of this three letter triptych, to reflect this current movement happening within the workplace. From Equality Diversity and Inclusion (EDI), to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DE&I), Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) or in the reverse Inclusion and Diversity (I&D), to Diversity, Inclusion and Accessibility (DI&A) or as it is used in the US, (Diversity, Equity, Accessibility and Inclusion (DEAI), no matter the iteration or wordplay, each are implicated in and through the other, working towards inclusivity or as we suggest, a better understanding and acknowledgment of the operations of difference.

To illustrate the impact of this critical moment, on last weekend’s Match of the Day aired on the BBC, (1) we hear the commentator informing us, that the reason behind football players taking the knee over the weekend, after the customary weekly act had been relegated to key matches, was to highlight the Premierships campaign “no to racism.” Further in his announcement, he then says it is to highlight “the ongoing commitment to tackling discrimination and promoting equality, diversity and inclusion.” (2) Similarly, we also saw in the international friendly between England’s Lionesses and the US team, players on both sides taking the knee in solidarity with women in the US National Women’s Soccer game, after a damning report exposed abuse and misconduct in the league. Players on both sides not only held a banner which wrote “Protect the Players”, but in addition wore teal armbands to support the victims of abuse.

Whilst both acts of solidarity stand in their own merit, both instances however illustrate how our understandings of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI), the version we use within this article, can become conflated with other agendas or lost in translation. In these instances, the sign of taking the knee has not only been removed from its original meaning as an anti-racist statement, but now been used as a general descriptor of EDI work and to tackle sexism, respectively. One of the dangers we highlight in this article then, is that EDI becomes synonymous with only addressing racial inequality or rather becomes reduced to describing race.

A good example of EDI in action was illustrated in 2018 conference to accompany the book launch of Inclusion and Intersectionality in Visual Arts Education (3) held at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park (YSP), where a disabled audience member spoke up about the lack of diversity and awareness of intersectionality, when talking about diversity issues. For her, when speaking about diversity, gender and race were talked about to death, however she felt that as a society we were a long way away from getting that same kind of urgency in regards to disability. As one of the contributors to the book and speaker at the event, I was in agreement with her because people tend to speak and see the world from their positions first, from their positionality, so that until we get more diversity, a range of values and bodies of difference in key positions and spaces, we will keep on replicating the same old diversity debates and continuously be perplexed as to why there is slow progress towards inclusivity. Inclusion agendas, as arts advisor and consultant Kate Hatton addresses in Towards an Inclusive Arts Education, ‘are always measurable in terms of what can be delivered to those who are excluded.’ (4). Remember, equality of opportunity is about giving people the same access to opportunities, whereas equity is about being fair in every situation, where the context must be acknowledged.

Diverse vs the non-diverse

So what’s the diverse in diversity?

Back in 2019 the cultural and film critic Clive Nwonka wrote in the Guardian, The arts were supposed to champion diversity. What went wrong? In it he reflects on Arts Council England’s (ACE) annual report on diversity, which revealed “a sector despite the rhetoric, still steeped in inequality.” (5) At the time the report was written, it showed that there was little to no improvement when it came to Art’s organisations in England improving the diversity of their leaders and workers in their workforce. In particular it highlighted that there was slow progress in the representation of black and minority ethnic employees in these positions and similarly, if not slightly worse, there was barely any progress for those with disabilities, which reiterates the earlier point made by the audience member with a disability.

Two key points, Nwonka raises which are important to this article, the first is that when people or organisations are seen to do diversity work, often, it seems like tick boxing exercises. He highlights organisations working towards the business case, however one of the ideas that the article is suggesting, is that you can’t use a business case to deal with people, to deal with staff well-being and engagement. People are not just data, although collecting data and being able to interpret data ethically and correctly are important.

Secondly, he then points out to organisations or people following suit, not because they think it’s the right thing to do, but because they have to do it, in order to hit targets for the business case for example. “Diversity policy has always seemed to be driven by semi-coercion rather than social commitment.” The old adage perhaps rings true here used by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, the famous British writer and feminist, and the author of Frankenstein (1818) when she writes in the notes of Chapter 5 of her 1792 treatise, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, “convince a man against his will, he’s of the same opinion still.” (6) In other words trying to convert the unconverted is futile, they may appear to agree on the surface but underneath, they are still of an opposing opinion and the more and more you try and get them to see from your perspective, unless they genuinely can do so, it will only push them further and further away. An example of this playing out in the workplace is where an employee will do what needs to be done, and speak to being inclusive, yet their actions will be incongruent. Therefore, learning how to reach the unreachable’s is as important as preaching to those already converted. How do you bring everyone on board?

Another interesting point to raise, which is not necessarily the focus of Nwonka’s article, is how the word “diverse” of late, seems to be used in a reductive way. In a linked article (7), English arts bodies slow to become more diverse, report shows (2019), the term is being used when describing the types of leaders that organisations had either recruited or wanted to see, in lead positions. They are referred to as “diverse leaders”, but who is classed as such or rather, how are we contextualising the word diverse? Are we talking about diverse by proxy of identity and if so, which identities fall into the bracket of being diverse? Within the article the reference to diverse leaders was being made after speaking about the rising number of Black and minority ethnic people being appointed to leadership positions, although the article does speak to the lack of representation in relation to disability? More often than not however, we are seeing what appears to be Freudian slippages where diverse or diversity equates to simply speaking about racial difference and even within that, it appears to be very binary.

Therefore, if there is a common misconception over what is classed as diverse, then what constitutes the non-diverse? These conversations hark back to the universalising of whiteness as the norm, that which goes as the unsaid. According to the cultural studies thinker John Storey, by not being seen as raced, white people become the human race:

As such, whiteness is an incredibly powerful cultural construct (not, as we have noted, biologically determined). It is against this norm that all others are invited to define themselves. We might note that white people are seldom articulated as ‘white’, they are just ‘are’. In news stories, if somebody is white they are invariably not identified as such in text. Model. Writer. Director. As opposed to Black model. Black writer. Black director. White people eat food. Theirs is not ‘ethnic food’. They wear clothes. Theirs is not ethnic fashion…. By not being “raced”, they become the human race.’ (Storey, 2009) (8)

And here lies the connection with using the term diverse, where Black and ethnic minorities and all marginalised under-represented groups are to diverse, as whiteness and hetero-normative culture is to the non-diverse.

Or from another perspective, perhaps the diverse which is being spoken about, refers to those who think in alternative ways, or as with most of these discussions, what they fail to speak more of, is on the impact of and performative nature of class in the workplace. Perhaps the diverse leaders reference the class dynamics and inequalities that we see, when we look at the current class backgrounds of those who govern the country.

Take for example the study carried out by LSE back in 2021 on meritocracy, Deflecting Privilege: Class Identity and the Intergenerational Self (9). According to the British Social Attitudes Survey, 47% of Britons in middle-class professional and managerial jobs identify as working class. Even more curiously, a quarter of people in such jobs who come from middle-class backgrounds, in the sense that their parents did professional work, also identified as working class. The study showed that people were too frightened or didn’t want to talk about their upbringing and their privilege and therefore illustrated the performative nature of the workplace:

“In our report, we argue that these intergenerational understandings of class origin should be read as having a performative dimension; they deflect attention away from the structural privileges these individuals enjoy, both in their own eyes but also among those they communicate their origin stories to in everyday life. At the same time, by framing their lives as an upward struggle against the odds, these interviewees misrepresent their subsequent life outcomes as more worthy, more deserving and more meritorious”.

When we talk about inclusivity then, are we taking into consideration these ideas of class and how it is implicated within these discussions. Whilst not listed as a protected characteristic, the impact of such inequalities related to class, can be felt, experienced and amplified within the workplace, depending on which side of the divide one sits on. As we see with the study, one cannot assume that one is from a particular class or not, however the workplace in itself, perpetuates a certain way of being, a code of conduct that caters to what is classed as “professional” and thereby what is classed as “proper”, or in other words, as this article suggests, the non-diverse.

4 Things to ask yourself

1. What is the context of the area you are looking into. What is the gap? If you have a cohort where all of its members are those with disabilities, those that make that group diverse? The question should then be, how do you bring difference into that team?

2. Learn to reach the unreachable’s – Are you speaking to key stakeholders and if so, how have you come to identify them as such? What of those who are not ready or don’t want to be at the table? How do you bring everyone not just onboard but along?

3. The pipeline – This is a long game, not a short game. For sustainable impact, we need to engage with the grassroots and plant the seeds, whilst simultaneously wait for the harvest. Work not just within our organisations but collaborate and partner with others in the life cycle of your EDI journey. For example, in our work with Trustee’s and governance boards, in demystifying their role, we learnt that more often than not, those in governance roles were given votes of confidence to do such roles by others. If this didn’t happen, like that of accumulative advantage, many of us, would not dare to progress into such positions. Therefore, plant the seeds and encourage those around you, especially if you are in positions of power where you can make a difference and give opportunities to others.

4. We often speak about increasing the visibility of representation of minority groups, but could we also ask to increase the representation of the non-visible? By this we mean, what about recruiting on the premise of the ability to touch one another, not in a physical sense, but rather connecting on an emotional deeper level. Connecting through character, kind rather than kin? As Martin Luther King Jnr best put it, “how often are our lives characterized by a high blood pressure of creeds and an anemia of deeds.” (10) Further he says, we must go beyond physical differences, those of racial difference, and rather enlist consciences, character. How then would the landscape of EDI change and our workforces when we work from a place of deeper awareness?

 

Footnotes

1) Match of the Day, BBC One [Aired 2022/23: 08/10/2022]
2) Ibid
3) Hatton, K Inclusion and Intersectionality in Visual Arts Education. Trentham Books: UCL IOE Press.
4) Hatton, K. (ed.) (2015) Towards an Inclusive Arts Education. London: Institute of Education Press; Trentham Books.
5) Clive, N (2019) The arts were supposed to champion diversity. What went wrong? Guardian Online. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/feb/15/arts-diversity-arts-council-england-inequality
6) Shelley, M (1818) A Vindication of the Rights of Woman
7) Brown, M (2019) English arts bodies slow to become more diverse, report shows. Guardian Online. https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2019/feb/12/english-arts-bodies-slow-to-become-more-diverse-report-shows
8) Storey, J (2009) Cultural Theory and Popular Culture (5th Edition). Essex: Pearson Education
9) Friedman, S, O’Brien, D & McDonald, I (2021) “Deflecting Privilege: Class Identity and the Intergenerational Self”. Volume 55 Issue 4, British Sociological Association.
10) King, M (2010) Strength to Love. (Gift Edition) 1517 Media; Fortress Press Gift edition

 

The Great Resignation: How to Combat this through the eyes of a Gen-Z’er

The Great Resignation is not just for kids. Getty Images/iStockphoto

Now more than halfway through 2022, I think we safely say that on the whole we have moved past the worst effects of Covid-19 as a health pandemic. However, a frightening phenomenon has occurred, one that has been called “the Great Resignation.” This movement has appeared to impact the whole of our society, especially in relation to our mental health and socio-economic economies. There were a multitude of factors which forced mass unemployment, which resulted in businesses going under. For the ones that did survive, they were having to make drastic cuts. In 2021 thousands of people across the UK and around the world left their jobs as workers were given time to think about their choices and at this point, many began to adjust to a new way of working. 

What is The Great Resignation?

The Great Resignation is defined as a mass exodus of workers who feel unfulfilled by their current jobs and have chosen to leave them prematurely, rather than continue in uninspiring roles. Great resignation workers include Gen-Xers who were forced to find new jobs after the 2008 financial crisis, Millennials who were hit by the Great Recession but had higher standards for their jobs, and now Gen-Z who want more out of life than just work. As a young person at the precipice of Gen-Z and Millennial, I have seen the trend continue amongst my peers and fear it will continue to affect future generations. (1)

 

Burnout and the Great Exhaustion – Why did they leave?

Between 2020 to 2021 Limeade an immersive well-being company, conducted a survey into the great resignation and looked at workers who had changed jobs (2). Their results found that 40% of employees cite burnout as the top reason for departure and 28% resigned without a job lined up. For those who had changed jobs, they did so based on:

○ The Ability to work remotely (40%)
○ Better compensation (37%)
○ Better management (31%)

Linked to the Great Resignation is the also the phenomenon, called ‘the Great Exhaustion’. Imagine feeling like you have not slept despite going to bed at 11pm and waking up at 6am or feeling like you have run a marathon even if you have just sat in your home office all day. This phenomenon was brought to light by researchers at the University of New South Wales (UNSW)
Sydney in Australia. Further, Professor Rae Cooper at the University of Sydney, describes this as “the weariness of people after 30 months of thoroughly stressful life”. (3) This has been due to overwhelming physical, mental and financial pressures placed on people during the pandemic, which lead to burnout and Cooper suggests that this is a much bigger issue for women.

Who is disproportionately affected and why?

Deloitte Global stated that “despite the fact that many employers have implemented new ways of working designed to improve flexibility, our research shows that the new arrangements run the risk of excluding the very people who could most benefit from them, with the majority of the women we polled having experienced exclusion when working in a hybrid environment”. (4) Their report ‘Women @ Work 2022: A Global Outlook’ that surveyed 5000 women across 10 countries, found that 10% of women were wanting to remain in their current jobs for more than five years and 1 in 10 women were seeking other employers. Perhaps the unclear boundaries and expectations of remote working, may have left women working double and contributed to them being impacted by the great exhaustion.

‘Quiet quitting’ has also become another popular overnight phenomenon, which offers a solution to job dissatisfaction, with methods shared amongst younger people on social media platforms, such as TikTok. The idea is to simply work within the boundaries of what you are being paid to do. However, whilst this does seem like a healthy approach to combat toxic productivity and normalise a healthier work life balance, it may not be sustainable and in the long run, will again, continue to impact more women.

5 Questions you should ask yourself?

How can we combat this and create more accommodating workplaces?

In order to retain and attract staff many organisations are offering hybrid/remote working options, four-day work weeks and mental health days. However, despite this support, people are still criticising these solutions as potentially being tokenistic and not getting to the root of the problem. One reason for this is that companies may not be tailoring their approach to represent the challenges of the staff most affected. For example, media campaigns can be a powerful tool in the effort to reintegrate women back into the workplace. Indeed, the worldwide job listing company, tend to centre their TV adverts on realistic stories. In 2020 they aired the advert Belonging: Sarah, which told the story of Sarah who was let go from a casting job that she loved at the age of 56 and was experiencing ageism within the industry. Eventually, after being guided to use Indeed, she later finds a job, whereby she is recognised for the skills that she brings to the table. In 2021 they released a similar advert called A New Beginning 30, but this time from the point of view of a woman returning to the workplace having taken time out to transition. (5)

There are Women Return Programmes also designed to support their journeys back into the labour market, but what about Gen-Z, or women who have not yet had a career to come back to?

How can you avoid becoming one of these statistics if you’re currently unhappy at your job?

Before you seek employment elsewhere, it’s important to do an honest assessment of yourself and the current state of your career. To do this, you should ask yourself these five questions:

1. What are my strengths and weaknesses?
2. What are my passions?
3. What is my ideal work environment?
4. What is my desired income?
5. What are my long-term goals?

Keeping these five questions in mind will help you find meaningful work without making rash career decisions. After you have done an honest assessment of yourself and the current state of your career, you should then ask yourself these three questions:

1. Is this job holding me back from growing?
2. Is this job providing me with valuable skills?
3. Is this job meeting my financial needs?

If you answer yes to Q1 or no to Q2/3, you should consider making a change. If you answered yes to any or all of the above questions, it is likely that you would be open to changing your current job with a better one. If you answered no to any or all of the above questions, it is likely that you would be open to making a change by moving on from your current job. It’s important that you do this before it’s too late!

Final words from a Gen-Z’er

It’s important that we find meaning in our work before any of the phenomenon’s outlined in this article take stuck. Pluck up the courage and have a one-on-one meeting with your manager and express your desire to find meaning in your work. You can start simply by identifying “what’s important to you?” What are your hopes and dreams? Do you want to travel or have the flexibility to work overseas? Be mindful however, of what their current challenges are.

If they don’t have the ability to help you, you should explore mentoring opportunities. These can help you to understand what an authentic approach to navigate your workplace can look like. Finding your network of advocates can also be useful to give you support and offer you holistic solutions to not just surviving in the workplace but thriving at what you do.

 

 

Footnotes
1) Wingard, J. (2021) ‘The Great Resignation’: Why Gen Z Is Leaving The Workforce In Droves…And What To Do About It. Forbes Online. [https://www.forbes.com/sites/jasonwingard/2021/09/02/the-great-resignation-why-gen-z-is-leaving-the-workforce-in-drovesand-what-to-do-about-it/?sh=623a765b5f87] 

2) Majority of Job-Changers in the Great Resignation Were Burned Out, Wanted to Be Valued and Cared For. (2021) Cision PR Newswire. [https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/majority-of-job-changers-in-the-great-resignation-were-burned-out-wanted-to-be-valued-and-cared-for-301387771.html]

3) Porter, A (2022) The Great Exhaustion: why we’re all experiencing an absolute, overwhelming feeling of emotional exhaustion. Stylist Magazine. [https://www.stylist.co.uk/life/careers/the-great-exhaustion-burnout-work/698702]

4) Women @ Work 2022: A Global Outlook’ (2022) [https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/global/Documents/deloitte-women-at-work-2022-a-global-outlook.pdf]

5) Bowler, H (2022) ‘War, Transphobia, Discrimination’: Indeed.com CMO On The Issues Marketers Must Address, The Drum. [https://www.thedrum.com/news/2022/06/15/war-transphobia-discrimination-indeedcom-cmo-the-issues-marketers-must-address]

Coming Out – “Are you ready to do this?”

Saturday July the 2nd will see the return of Pride in London, two years since the Covid-19 pandemic relegated the annual celebration off the streets of the capital. This year is also historic, as it marks 50 years since the first Gay Pride in Britain, which took place in July of 1972, and was organised by the Gay Liberation front (GLF). As the streets of central London are filled with members of the LGBTQIA+ communities, coming together in what could be called “a collective coming out”, this article looks at the very notion of “coming out”, as a central part of becoming. 

 

Luda & Beryl, 2011 Ope Lori @ Image Courtesy of PILAA

The interconnected nature of both aspects was evidenced, as viewers tuned into the ITV documentary, Kelly Holmes: Being Me. Aired on the 26th of June, we heard the coming out story of Dame Kelly Holmes, the nations prized Olympic Gold medal winning heroine. With an emphasis on the “Being Me” being written in bold on the title screen, we see Holmes relive her challenges with not being able to come out, in what was a beautiful yet painful testimony from the athlete. Now in her early 50s, she is coming out to the public and the rest of the world, and in such an emphatic way, by appearing in this documentary for all to see. Her deeply moving and emotional journey is one that many from the LGBTQIA+ communities can relate to, such as thinking of when is it the right time to come out?  Or what makes coming such a difficult experience for some, although not for all, and lastly, how can we foster inclusive and supportive spaces for those yet to come out or who may want to remain in the closet, for various reasons?

 

 

 

When is it the right time to come out?

“Are you ready to do this?” were the initial words asked by the interviewer to Holmes in the opening scene, before she nervously responded “yep, ready to do it. Need to do it. So gotta get it done.” (1) We learn that for various reasons, including Holmes national identity as a sporting heroine and having served in the Army at a time when it was illegal to be gay, she was unable to come out. For 32 years she had kept this secret to herself, family and friends, fearing that she would be caught. When she came out, she did so first to her non-biological father, whom her mother married and then to the rest of her family at the age of 27. When speaking to her family about her coming out to them, most had known and had always been supportive. For one sister, she states that by her telling her, it had brought them much closer. Coming out, in the most basic sense, is defined as:

“The process of telling someone else how they identify in terms of their romantic orientation, sexual orientation, or gender identity. Coming out is a lifelong process that has both intrapersonal and interpersonal components, although most people have an initial phase where they are first coming out to themselves.” (2)

As we saw with Holmes, it wasn’t just about an issue of time, but it was also related to how she felt, and to how her mental health was deteriorating. The longer and longer she remained in the closet, unable to be herself, the worse she became, to the point we learn that the athlete self-harmed and wanted to commit suicide.

Time and history, however, is still an important aspect. She interviews Welsh Olympic Boxing Champion Lauren Price, who is in a relationship with fellow Olympic boxing medallist Karriss Artingstall, who also served in the Army. The couple officially came out as dating in 2020 after the Tokyo Olympics. When asked about whether they made a decision to come out, the pair both discuss their experiences as being positive and not being an issue. When Holmes mentions that there was a ban for being gay in the Army, which was only overturned in 2000, both were unaware that it even existed and were complete disbelief. Speaking to a current LGBTQ Army network group, they reiterate how times have changed, that they felt included, and that if there were issues, there were now policies in place to help support them.

 

Codes of conduct

Being in the Army seemed to be the most challenging reason behind Holmes not being able to come out. She recalls a time whilst serving, when the Royal Military Police had come to the regiment trying to find out who was gay. Feeling violated by people going into their spaces, what was crucial in Holmes account, was that they were trying to look for “anything they could find to see if you were gay.” (3) Perhaps this may seem like a strange thing to say, after all how can you see your sexual or romantic orientation? 

Back in 2019, Lil Nas X, one of the few musicians to come out as openly gay with his blockbusting song, Old Town Road, was in number 1 spot of the general Billboard Hot 100, for a record-breaking nineteen consecutive weeks. Whilst the song was controversial for reasons, such as it wasn’t seen as typically rap, neither country, but both i.e., “country rap” what was important, was that the song was largely about coming out. 

Lil Nas X came out to his sister and father, in early June 2019, as he felt it was the right time to do so, despite his uncertainty whether his fans would stick by him or not. He thought it was obvious from his music and the videos that he would be “read” as gay, but when the rolling Stone magazine said that one of his songs “touches on themes such as coming clean, growing up and embracing oneself”, he found himself tweeting the next day for clarity, that he was gay, saying “deadass thought I made it obvious”. (4) The response to the news was mostly positive, but also garnered a large amount of homophobic backlash on social media, including from members of the hip hop community. 

So why would it have been obvious? The answer here relies on who is looking, what are the codes that are being read. How does someone present and how are they being recognised? Note in the video of Old Town Road, Lil Nas X is wearing a crucifix earring. Perhaps this has less significance in regards to his sexual orientation, as it did for men back in the 60s. Men who wore earrings in their right ear, did so, to indicate their sexual preference. Of course, times have changed from the times of George Michael and his iconic dangling crucifix earring. Song artists like Sam Smith, who identifies as non-binary, has been seen wearing earrings on both right and left sides. Harry Styles, the former One Direction boy band member, but now solo artist, who doesn’t disclose his sexuality, but neither denies it, calling himself gender fluid or Queer, can be seen wearing earrings and mixing up fashion styles indicative of being masculine, feminine and androgynous.

In Trans* (2018) a key book written by Jack Halberstam, an influential gender, queer, trans and visual theorist, on speaking about these specific codes and to seeing how bodies are read as problematic, or less so, when they fit into their associated gender ideals, they say “a masculine woman, in the context of a farm, is not automatically read as a lesbian; she is simply a hardworking woman who can take care of herself and her farm.” (5)

 

Wrestle, 2011 Ope Lori @ Image Courtesy of PILAA

Community and safe spaces

This brings us to the final question; where is it safe to come out? Are there certain spaces which pose more threat than others, just as the Army did for Holmes prior to its decriminalising of being gay? What industries and professions, dose coming out still bare a risk? For example, it has been 24 years since Justin Fashanu, committed suicide in 1998 following allegations of sexual assault of a 17-year-old boy. Since then, he was known as the first openly gay professional footballer and there was no one else in the British game of men’s topflight football to come out, until recently. Now Jake Daniels, the 17-year-old Blackpool FC professional football player, has come out earlier in May as gay. Is this however a watershed moment for men’s football or is it a mere milestone? Is it easier in traditional office time workplaces, to come out, or can it be as difficult with this new mode of hybrid working, as a result of the pandemic? Or within academia, are there certain courses that are more LGBTQIA+ friendly than others? For example, the Lecturer teaching in the Visual Arts, as opposed to the one in the Sciences? Or what about the Lecturer teaching the same course, but being based in rural parts of the UK, as opposed to being in a big city? 

Of course, there could be stereotypes in making these assumptions on what is deemed as a safe space, however as Halberstam states, “it is also crucial to be specific about which queer subjects face what kind of threats, from whom, and in what locations.” (6) Therefore, being mindful of our environment and the privileges that some spaces hold over others, is equally as important, in identifying where is deemed as fertile ground to come out.

And finally, what is a safe space? In much of our work with organisations or in helping to facilitate difficult conversations on matters of identity, what we have come to see over time, is that safe spaces are not just about a physical, inclusive environments to be in, but also, they are about who you can go to in your time of need. Who can give you support and who can you trust? Who do you feel comfortable enough to come out too? This could be friends, family or community. In the documentary, Holmes speaks to UK Black Pride Founder Phyll Opoku-Gyimah—a.k.a. “Lady Phyll”, about this aspect of community which she has been absent from. Lady Phyll speaks about coming out to her own family and the challenges with coming out, especially as a child of a heritage country where being LGBT is illegal. She states that she also has a different family, a chosen family, “the community.”

Having people to confide in, to help you take yourself out of the closet, is as important in the coming out process. For Holmes, she confides in one of her male friends, who she says she recorded and shared voice notes too, in order to help her deal with being gay, especially when she was at her lowest. For a long time, she was unable to get help for her mental health, for fear of being outed by whoever she spoke too. She now speaks to her psychologist, where she says that if not for her, she wouldn’t be able to do the documentary and be free. 

2022 Pride Flag, visibly intersex and inclusive. Designed by intersex activist, Valentino Vecchietti


Tomorrow, as the LGBTQIA+ communities celebrate Pride in London, with the theme of #AllOurPride, remember that coming out as a shared rite of passage, will mean different things for different members of the community. Coming out stories can fluctuate from positive experiences to ones which have left members of the community estranged from those they have called friends and family. 

For all the good things with being out and being seen, we should also remember that “with recognition comes acceptance, with acceptance comes power, with power comes regulation,” (7) and it is that regulation which is part of the infrastructure of belonging, which for some members of the LGBTQIA+ community, is still an ongoing battle. 






Footnotes

1) Kelly Holmes: Being Me (2022) ITV, 26 June 2022 [Broadcasting]

2) See ‘Coming Out’ resource as part of the LGBT Centre Unc- chapel Hill, at https://lgbtq.unc.edu/resources/exploring-identities/coming-out/)

3) Kelly Holmes: Being Me (2022) ITV, 26 June 2022 [Broadcasting]  

4) Griffiths, K. (2020) Lil Nas X: Old Town Rodeo for a New Power Generation, Red Wedge, 30 June. Online. http://www.redwedgemagazine.com/online-issue/lil-nas-x-old (Accessed 17 August 2020).

5) Halberstam, J. (2018) Trans*, University of California Press, Oakland, California.

6) Ibid.

7) Ibid.




Booing at the FA Cup – Eye Don’t See Colour

“What is at issue here is not simply that different readers produce contradictory readings of the same cultural texts or that an ethnically diverse society throws up conflicting ideological viewpoints. More fundamentally, this critical exchange highlights the way image-making has become an important arena of cultural contestation – contestation over what it means to be British today; contestation over what Britishness itself means as a national or cultural identity; and contestation over the values that underpin the Britishness of British cinema as a national film-culture.” – (Kobena Mercer, 1988)

 

 

 

It’s been close to 4 weeks since the controversy that marred the opening ceremony of the 150th FA Cup between Liverpool and Chelsea on Saturday the 14th of May. For those football supporters who watched the events either as live spectators or on the screen as it was broadcast, what was witnessed and then spoken about on countless news media platforms, was the booing of Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge. Multiple TV debates on the incident and caption headings, sang to the tune of; “Booing Prince William shows the monarchy’s days are numbered, says GRAHAM SMITH” (1), “You’ve got to be a special brand of moron to boo the national anthem’ – Simon Jordan criticises Liverpool fans who jeered Prince William and God Save The Queen ahead of FA Cup final” (2), as well as references to the Liverpool Manager and his response to the events, “Jurgen Klopp defends Liverpool fans booing national anthem.” (3)

 

What was noticeable however, was that in most of these accounts, Prince William and the royal establishment, became the sole reason behind the booing. In one article for example, written by Graham Smith, it opens with, ‘You might not like it, it might make some people uncomfortable, but that’s tough,’ (4) and then goes into the reasons why this was all about the royal family, what they stood for and why fans were disillusioned by them, given historical and recent controversies that have graced our screens in recent years. It is not surprising Smith’s stance, given that he is the Chief Executive Officer at Republic, the campaign group set up to abolish the monarchy. With such a promising opening statement, this article offers other reasons why there was booing and indeed suggests that Prince William wasn’t the sole target. This might make some uncomfortable, yet at the same time, this insight offering will make us more conscious to facing up to what is ultimately a difficult conversation. One that needs to be recognised, especially when not all of us will see in the same way.

 

“What I could see”: A view from the stands when watching Liverpool verses Fulham in 2013

And so, this is where we must begin, with that very notion of seeing. As part of the seminal Black Film British Cinema conference, at the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) in 1988, cultural theorist Kobena Mercer stated that as ethnically diverse groups of people, we will not only see things differently, but we will also contest the meanings attached to looking at the same image. In this instance it would be looking at the same event. Watching the opening on live TV, I was already apprehensive of what was to come, when I saw that the predominantly all-black group, B Positive Choir and the singer Raye of mixed heritage, were to open the ceremony, by singing “Abide With Me” and the British national anthem – “God Save the Queen”, respectively. As a black female viewer, it was the same trepidation as what I remembered feeling growing up and watching films where I was all too aware of the tragic demise of black characters, especially in mainstream films, where they were either the first to die or would die in the most dramatic way. It was the same feeling then that was felt as this group and solo singer walked into the stadium and the booing began. As with most of the articles, they fail to address this point, that the booing began before Prince William carried out his duty.

What then happened reminded me of two key texts, by Malian writer, filmmaker, and cultural theorist, Manthia Diawara and bell hooks, the US black feminist and cultural and film theorist, who sadly passed away last year, when they both wrote about spectatorship: essentially on the looking practices within film. It is those same looking practices that can be applied to the realm of spectator sports or any instance, where there are spectators. Reminding ourselves on what they have written, will prove useful in understanding what took place.

 

English Man, 2008 Ope Lori

For Diawara in Black Spectatorship: Problems of Identification and Resistance, written in 1997, he coins a term called the ‘resisting spectator’, described as any person who resists making racial identifications with the dominant readings of race in representations, as a term which is inclusive of black and white viewers. We resist in different ways, in accordance with the concept of difference, which intersects across race, sex, class and other identity categories. It is difference that enables different readings of the same text, and it is difference that makes our looking experiences as individual to the person doing the looking. As a black man, this is the perspective in which Diawara is doing the looking and this becomes a point of departure for hooks, when she writes in The Oppositional Gaze: Black Female Spectators in 1996, that black men and women resist images differently. Black women not only resist in terms of the patriarchal system that they are implicated in, but also resist in regards to white supremacist notions of racialized others.

It is with this, that we return to unravelling what happened at the 150th FA Cup opening ceremony. The aim is not to suggest that distain for the royal family was not a factor in why some supporters booed, and Prince William was not the sole focus, but I would suggest that he was one of many. Indeed, those who have commented in the media, have predominantly been white men, either those in the football and sports arena or who are in the political arena and are spokespersons for the royal family, or as one male caller stated on White & Jordan on Talksport, from the working-class community. (5) Focusing on Prince William and thereby the royal family, set in front of the backdrop of two national songs, communicates that part of this discussion relates to ideas around notions of Britishness and belonging, as well as class:

“And there’s good reason to boo royals, because they represent something that a lot of people object to. Not Britain, but elitism, unearned wealth, limits on democracy and hereditary privilege. At a time when millions are suffering from the cost-of-living crisis, they also represent a deeply unequal and unfair society.” (6)

It is then, hardly surprising that mention of B Positive Choir and of Raye have been abysmal, for reasons related to who in fact is giving the commentary. The B Positive Choir actually performed “Abide With Me” last year in the 2021 FA Cup opening ceremony, when Chelsea played Leicester City. The national anthem then, was sung by the white British artist, Becky Hill. Prince William as with tradition, was there carrying out his duties, by greeting the players, however given that the nation was still within the woes of the pandemic, he was unable to physically handshake any of them. On this occasion, as a viewer reflecting on the social media uploads of the event, there was chanting, but it was indistinguishable, unlike the obvious booing in this year’s ceremony. However, the booing was not completely absent, it emerged in full force, when the players from both sides took a knee just before kick-off.

Football Chant, 2008, Ope Lori

Booing whilst taking the knee, which is an anti-racism gesture that has become customary in all Premiership football matches, since it was evoked shortly after the murder of George Floyd in May 2020 and as a result of the subsequent Black Lives Matter protests, has in the early days, often been met with booing. In an article written in The Athletic, the journalist Ryan Conway, speaks to former English Premier League striker Marvin Sordell, the black player who has spoken extensively about his battles with depression, on the reasons why some supporters show distain for taking the knee. By replying to these responders on social media and on their app, he tries to offer them some reasoning behind their resistance. The reasons varied from a respondent who believed that Black Lives Matter was a ‘Marxist, racist and violent movement’, to another who felt that football should just be about football, without including the element of protest and finally, with one responder questioning how taking a knee would affect racism. (7)

All points are therefore valid, in the sense that, this is what these fans had suggested were ‘their’ reasons for such gestures. This was their way of seeing. For me, as a black viewer of the same anti-racist gesture, it is perhaps the latter point in which there is a shared way of seeing where the premise of the resisting spectator comes to the fore. For example, since the practice of taking the knee has become customary, there have been individual footballers and clubs who have stopped doing so, because they feel it has lost meaning. As Crystal Palace striker and Ivorian player Wilfred Zaha stated last year, “there is no right or wrong decision, but, personally, I feel kneeling has just become a part of the pre-match routine. At the moment it doesn’t matter whether we kneel or stand, some of us still continue to receive abuse.” (8). Perhaps it is the same resistance that is felt by some, when seeing a group of black bodies, patriotically singing “Abide With Me”, not because of their blackness, but because of the empty gesture that their presence invokes.

Another dimension to this question on spectatorship, is also related to what and whom the B Positive Choir represent. They are in fact ‘a choir made up of people from across the UK, some of whom have Sickle Cell or family and friends with it,’ as is their description given on their Facebook page. Therefore, this is also about disability and access. Even though Sickle Cell Disease/Sickle Cell Disorder (SCD) is not automatically classed as a disability, based on The Equality Act 2010, it does meet several of its requirements, where a person may be described as having a disability (9). Unless spectators were aware of this hidden factor related to the B Positive Choir, then the prospect of the booing being related to it, would be hardly likely, but possible, depending on who’s looking. Regardless however, whether it was about any of these identity constructs, race or disability, the question then comes back to optics. Optics in the sense of, what must have it looked like and felt like for the members of the B Positive Choir and Raye the singer to be hearing the booing, when it “allegedly” was not directed at them but at the Prince?

When the common adage “I don’t see colour’ is used, it normally references living in a colour-blind world, where race and skin colour is not a factor. As Lewis Gordon, the Afro-Jewish American philosopher writes in his recently published Fear of Black Consciousness (2022) under the paradoxical heading “Erased; Or, “I Don’t See Race”, I don’t see colour often translates as:

“I cannot be racist, because I would first have to see race.” And another: “Because I don’t see color, I cannot see race; therefore, I am incapable of being racist.” There is more: “I can see beyond what others see. I see that they see color and race; I’m better than them, because I see that what they see is wrong. And since racism relies on believing what is false, my seeing the true form of my fellow human being – no color, no race – means that I am beyond racism. I am good.” (10)

So here in lies the problem and the issue with optics and how we see. Is it possible to live in a world without colour and if so, who then does it best serve? On the one hand it suggests that we are all equal and that race and skin colour difference should not be factors in how we operate in the world. On the other hand, it is by investing in this colour-blind aesthetic, that these inequalities go under the radar and as I have written about in this article, that it was possible for the colour of the choir, the singer and of those fans who booed, to have been eradicated from the discussion. How can you tackle a problem, if that problem hasn’t been recognised, or seen as such, given the identities of those doing the looking and then making value judgments? This essentially is the paradox of race and racism, and until we start asking other questions, by acknowledging multiple ways of seeing, from a range of differences and vantage points, we will forever be in confusion, and be unable to see the wood for the trees.

 

 

 

Footnotes:
(1) Smith, Graham (2022) ‘Booing Prince William shows the monarchy’s days are numbered, says GRAHAM SMITH.’ Express, https://www.express.co.uk/comment/expresscomment/1610938/Prince-william-boos-booed-cup-final-wembley-queen-stepping-down-royal-news
(2) talkSPORT (2022) Simon Jordan: ‘You’ve got to be a special brand of moron to boo the national anthem’. https://talksport.com/football/fa-cup/1110540/simon-jordan-liverpool-fans-boo-national-anthem/
(3) Sports Mole (2022) Jurgen Klopp defends Liverpool fans booing national anthem. https://www.sportsmole.co.uk/football/liverpool/fa-cup/news/jurgen-klopp-defends-liverpool-fans-booing-national-anthem_485960.html
(4) Mercer, K, Carter, E & Appignanesi, L (1988) Black Film British Cinema, ICA documents, Institute of Contemporary Arts, London.
(5) ibid 2.
(6) Ibid 1.
(7) Conway, Ryan (2021) ‘Why should I support violence?’ Busting myths on taking a knee. The Athletic. https://theathletic.com/2244447/2021/06/03/taking-knee-football-racism-violence-marxism-blm/
(8) Mcevoy, Sam (2022), Fans BOO Leicester and Chelsea players taking the knee before kick-off. Mail Online. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-9582443/FA-Cup-Final-Fans-BOO-Leicester-Chelsea-players-taking-knee-moments-kick-off.html
(9) See Sickle Cell Work and Employment a research informed policy document by OSCAR Sandwell – https://sicklecellwork.dmu.ac.uk
(10) Gordon, Lewis (2022) The Fear of Black Consciousness. Penguin Random House, UK.

 

References:

(1) Baker, Jr. H.A., Diawara, M. and Lindeborg R.H. 1996. Black British Cultural Studies: A Reader, Chicago; London: The University Of Chicago Press.

(2) hooks, b. 1996. Reel to Real: Race, Sex, and Class at the Movies, New York: Routledge.

*All images in this article are reserved to PILAA.