Books | The School of Visibility | Women and visibility

Books

At The School of Visibility we love books! Here’s some of our favourite feminist texts – old and new – which we think should be on everybody’s night stand.

Books we love

Feminist books

Indigenous women

Women speaking up

Women's rage

Why might a woman resist systems? ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Because: ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
- she's been told she should be able to 'do it all' so resting into a system feels 'weak' or like admitting she can't keep up ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
- she's running a story that working hard makes her worthy so even when she wants to rest, her desire to prove her worth overrides that⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
- masculine energies and approaches don't feel safe so she stays safely in the flow of the feminine⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
- she's been conditioned to question her own value and worthiness to receive support⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
- of gendered socialisation which discourages girls from STEM (making too many girls and women feel like numbers and systems ‘aren’t for them’ or that they just aren’t good at them)⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
- she has an experience with systems - pick your combination within the kyriarchy - that has taught her that systems can't be trusted, that they're not designed for her, that they don't support her. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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All of these influences affect your willingness and capacity to establish systems in your business. You have to break down your resistance to systems if you want to run your business by doing less rather than more. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Check out our visibility recipe 'But I hate systems' to find out more: https://theschoolofvisibility.com/recipes/but-i-hate-systems/

One of the things we work on with our students ins

One of the things we work on with our students inside our signature program 'Women Speaking Up' is setting up systems to support their visibility intentions. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
We do that because we want you to rest more. To achieve more by doing less. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
To do that you need to be supported. As James Clear says in his book 'Atomic Habits', 'You do not rise to the level of your goals, you fall to the level of your systems.'⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
The thing is, lots of women resist setting up systems. They feel uncomfortable about them or constrained by them. There are lots of reasons for this which I'll chat about in another post. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
For now, I've a prompt for you; do you have systems set up to support your visibility?

In a world strongly influenced by an industrial re

In a world strongly influenced by an industrial revolution mindset, doing less is a radical thing. We’ve been taught that the only way to achieve is by taking action, so when we feel inadequate or unworthy or not enough, we’ll often do more to compensate. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
In those moments, the way of the feminine invites you to do less. To slow down, to tend to that part of yourself that feels unworthy, to open into clarity and perspective. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
That way, when you do act, you do so with intention and focus. You’re able to realise more by being willing first to do less. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Patriarchal capitalism will have you believe this is nonsense. That efficiency looks linear. That we must constantly track our input to ensure consistent output.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
And when running a business; it’s helpful to set up systems you can rely on.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
But it’s important to remember that the system exists to support the humans within the business. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Rigid measuring of the input and output of humans - have I worked 8 hours, have I ticked everything off my to do list, have I been wildly productive in every moment? - is a recipe for inefficiency, lack of creativity, and burn out. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Humans need to be creative and curious. Experimental and willing to explore new and divergent approaches. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Without the healthy integration of a system you can rely on AND the permission to play in the space of the feminine, visibility will never come easily. You’ll hustle and push, or you’ll remain inconsistent and won’t realise the type of visibility you desire.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
So today our expanded mantra is this; I allow systems to support me so I can come to rest. I grant myself the mental space to realise clarity around who I am, what I bring to the world, and the message I’m here to share. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
I am worthy of rest. Of time. Of taking up space without any clear purpose. My being is just as valuable as my doing.

Today’s memorial walk for women and girls who’

Today’s memorial walk for women and girls who’ve suffered and/or died from family or sexual violence, was made up of Cindy from Sydney, Caroline from Hobart and me - Samantha - from Canberra.
Who will take up the baton next week and become a part of our living memorial?
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#mondayatmidday #violenceagainstwomen #canberralife #womensvoices

It’s Monday which means it’s time to speak up,

It’s Monday which means it’s time to speak up, use your voice, and take one small action this week to eliminate violence against women and girls.
I’ll be at Parliament House at midday doing the memorial walk and would love to see you there. DM me for the details if you’re in the area.
And if that’s not possible for you, we recommend sharing some of the testimonies collected by @chanelc. They provide a stark reminder that doing nothing is not an option. Check out her page, find a post you want to share, share it on your account (with attribution of course), and include this hashtag: #mondayatmidday so we can find you. .
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#canberralife #memorialwalk #womenspeakingup #womensupportingwomen

My weekend; a book, a national park, a tent, a war

My weekend; a book, a national park, a tent, a warm blanket, a fire pit and family.

ATT: YOGA TEACHERS ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ It'

ATT: YOGA TEACHERS ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
It's #amplifyawoman day!⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Here's how it works; each month we amplify one group of women doing amazing things in the world. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
This month we're amplifying yoginis! ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Tag us in the comments of a post you’d love more people to see and we'll share it in our stories. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
And if you want to shout out another amazing yoga teacher, you can do that too. Just tag us in a post you create celebrating that woman.

I was having a lovely conversation yesterday with

I was having a lovely conversation yesterday with Cristen at @birthmonopoly about many things, one being the way we use our voices.
Our collective conditioning says, ‘Be kind and submissive. Don’t upset anyone’. But so often that leads to not setting clear boundaries and not actually saying what we mean.
Too much of that eventually leads to frustration, resentment, yelling. Which means we end up either suppressing our voices or spewing them out.
I prefer clear and compassionate communication and my kids give me lots of opportunities to practise it.
This looks like speaking with authority about what my expectations are, without losing my heart centred connection to my kids, myself, or any other person.
Clear and compassionate communication doesn’t mean capitulation to their wants, nor does it mean ignoring them. It means acknowledging what they’ve asked for and deciding first and foremost where my boundary is re. that request. Then communicating that through love, irrespective of whether it’s a yes or a no.
I adopt the same approach with my business. Often women have interesting expectations about how another woman’s business should be run. They’ll impose their own people pleasing conditioning on other women. They expect that in the name of being kind or nice, you won’t set clean boundaries.
Always I meet those expectations with clear and compassionate communication. I don’t pander to people’s whims but I do meet people’s requests with a compassionate heart. And just like my children, compassion doesn’t mean capitulation. It means that I treat all my students and community members as the powerful beings I know them to be. I energetically invite them to meet me there. I understand the wounded parts of ourselves aren’t always interested in that, but that’s my boundary. People who respect that, are the people I’m interested in supporting to be more visible in the world. Specifically, women who are powerful enough to speak with clarity about their own needs and who draw power from their hearts in the way they choose to communicate.

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