Speaking up | The School of Visibility

The Visibility Compendium, May 2019

This month at the School of Visibility we focused on speaking up around controversial topics. We traversed racism, ageism, abortion, disruption of dominant narratives, and taking insufficient and/or too much responsibility in a world of blame and outrage.

Below is where you can scroll through everything we shared and catch up on all the goodness. So grab a cup of tea and let’s get into it!

FROM THE BLOG

I can’t say that, it’s too controversial!
[Topics: leadership | feminism | visibility]
‘To begin, it’s important to remember this about controversial topics; everything that’s really important in the world is controversial in some way.

Think about a few controversial moments in history:

The Suffragettes were ridiculed for being so ‘brazen’ as to presume women would have something valuable to contribute to the political arena.

The second wave of feminists were considered to be destroying families and stealing men’s jobs for

… [Read More...]

What does responsibility have to do with it?

In today’s Tuesday chat I speak about taking responsibility as the antidote to a world that’s almost exclusively focused on expressing blame and outrage.

I speak both about the ways that people in positions of privilege are refusing to take responsibility and the ways people who are not in positions of privilege are expected to take on too much responsibility. (NB: The internet connection cut out toward the end. So expect an abrupt halt to the conversation.)

Once you’ve watched the video, here are some guiding questions to consider;

Where am I not taking responsibility for the privileges I experience in society?
Where am I taking on too much responsibility on behalf of others experiencing privilege?

Question 1: Where am I not taking responsibility for the privileges I experience in society?

If you’ve ever found yourself being yelled at by a person who experiences less privilege than you, this is … [Read More...]

It’s time to disrupt the dominant narrative

This month at the School of Visibility we’re talking all about controversy. Namely what might be stopping you from speaking up about controversial topics.

Last week we covered some of the things to keep in mind when you’re contemplating speaking up about a controversial topic.

Today I’ve a specific question for you to ask yourself before you decide not to speak up about something controversial (or potentially controversial).

Before we dive into that question, I want to remind you of something. (Something that we explore for a whole day of the Visibility Challenge. A free challenge that we run a few times a year.)

In a world that prioritises one perspective – that of the white, ably bodied, heterosexual, economically secure males – all other voices are controversial. By virtue of there being one dominant perspective, all people who don’t fit within these parameters are sidelined as ‘other’.

Which … [Read More...]

I can’t say that! It’s too controversial

One of the most common things women say about why they’re not speaking up on a topic they’re passionate about is; it’s too controversial. ‘People will be upset, challenged, they won’t understand me’ are some of the ways it’s expressed. So for the next couple of months, we’re running a mini series, where we’ll be diving deep into the topic of controversial visibility.

To begin, it’s important to remember this about controversial topics; everything that’s really important in the world is controversial in some way.

Think about a few controversial moments in history:

The Suffragettes were ridiculed for being so ‘brazen’ as to presume women would have something valuable to contribute to the political arena.
The second wave of feminists were considered to be destroying families and stealing men’s jobs for promoting a woman’s right to work.
Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for speaking up against racial injustice.
Oprah’s comment about

… [Read More...]

Why ‘How frequently should I post?’ is the wrong question

At the School of Visibility we’re not about vacuous visibility – pursuing fame for the sake of it or mindlessly pursuing vanity metrics. We’re focused on visibility because we believe that every person is here to share something important with the world. To gift the world in some way.

To be in a position where you can bestow that gift, you have to be willing to be seen, or heard. To affect others in some way.

This form of visibility is very different to the hustle for the sake of hustling form of visibility. That’s a form of visibility that’s about pushing yourself on other people and competing to put out more content than anyone else. It’s an approach that’s informed by lack and when you adopt this approach to visibility, what you put out there – no matter how much you put out there – is never enough.

So … [Read More...]