Feminists slam International Women’s Day celebrations as ‘sexist’
‘Major eye roll’: Feminists slam ‘sexist’ International Women’s Day events including a cookery class and a piano recital by a solo MALE performer
- International Women’s Day (8th March) celebrates women’s achievements
- But several events in London appear to have missed the mark with ‘sexist’ events
- The Royal Institute of British Architects were forced to cancel a cookery class
- Twitter users spotted another event where the only performer is male
Feminists have slammed celebrations intended for International Women’s Day amid claims they are sexist.
The Royal British Institute of British Architects (RIBA) was forced to cancel a cookery class it had organised to celebrate working women due to take place on Friday.
Elsewhere, social media users blasted a music event at Morley College, in south London pointing out that the only performer on the night was a man.
International Women’s Day is a public holiday celebrated around the globe on 8th March, and is designed to celebrate women’s accomplishments and advance gender equality.
However feminists were quick to blast the London events for their ‘sexist’ and old fashioned approach, which they said is not in the spirit of the day.
Feminists were outraged to find that Morley College in London was putting on an event celebrating International Women’s Day featuring only one male performer and no women
More than 50 architects put their name to an open letter to the RIBA after receiving an email inviting ‘working parents’ to an event which featured a talk from a home economist, and ‘a useful presentation on how to prepare quick and healthy meals for a busy working family’.
The now-deleted invite said RIBA was ‘celebrating women in architecture’ by hosting the event in Mayfair, where attendees could discuss ‘how RIBA can better support parents’.
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The email invitation read: ‘Calling all working parents – this one is especially for you!
‘We have listened and understood that our evening events can often be tricky especially with childcare arrangements.
‘For International Women’s Day 2019, RIBA London are delighted to be celebrating women in architecture by hosting a special brunch event at Bulthaup in Mayfair.’
But scores of professionals – men and women – wrote to the organisation accusing it of ‘undermining women’s authority at work’ with the event.
Chief letter writer Maria Westerståhl, associate at firm Cottrell & Vermeulen Architecture, submitted the letter on Friday – which was cosigned by dozens – and within the day, heard back from RIBA to say that the event had been cancelled.
The email invite from The Royal Institute of British Architects stunned female and male architects, who said the idea of having a cookery class for working parents on International Women’s Day was sexist
Westerståhl said she could not believe that her professional body would put their name to the event, calling it ‘very misguided’.
‘People who have kids have all sorts of solutions to the work life balance, but that’s not the point. I think the RIBA should focus on highlighting women, and not their roles as jugglers of work and family,’ she said.
Westerståhl’s letter read: ‘We would like to express our most heartfelt disappointment in the RIBA endorsement of kitchens, family well-being and healthy eating as a general female prerogative, and one that is of particular relevance to women’s professional advancement in architecture.
‘These twin notions are pervasive in work places and wider society, and continue to undermine women’s authority at work, their job security, pay, and their mental and physical health.’
The letter goes on to argue that the restrictions likely contribute to the low percentage of registered female architects, and that the barriers to practicing architecture were not just women or parents, but affected everyone.
Feminists were stunned to see the poster for the event claiming to celebrate International Women’s Day, but featured a huge picture of a man
Westerståhl explains: ‘It is our view that this retrograde event is damaging to the RIBA’s standing among its members, to women in architecture and to architects of both sexes raising a family. We urge you to consider a redress before this event takes place.’
A spokeswoman for RIBA said that the event was cancelled in light of the concerns, adding: ‘The RIBA London networking brunch event came about from a long standing relationship with a kitchen manufacturer, which includes the use of their showroom for well-received catered networking events at no cost to attendees.
‘The RIBA is strongly committed to driving change to diversify the architecture profession.
‘We have a range of measures in place and host regular events to help people progress and flourish.
‘Events include last week’s panel discussion – ‘Forum: A Celebration of Women in Architecture’ – which celebrated the work of architects working internationally.’
And feminists elsewhere in London slammed a different International Women’s Day event scheduled for Friday, that plans to feature one man and no women.
Nikos Stavlas will be the sole person to perform at the women’s event at Morley College in Newington, South London.
The pianist is due to play songs by female composers as an apparent celebration of the empowering global holiday.
An advert shows Mr Stavlas pictured next to text that reads: ‘International Women’s Day. Piano recital of women composers.’
The irony was not lost on bemused tweeters who quickly condemned the event.
While some were quick to point out that there were some major issues with the poster, others cheekily suggested that maybe Nikos identifies as a woman while playing
Monica Larkin said: ‘I refuse to believe that *not one person* failed to see the issue with this.’
Kirsten Sheridan said: ‘Maybe, just maybe, every single woman pianist in the world was already booked for #internationalWomensDay2019?
Nah, I don’t think so either. Massive fail @morleycollege.’
Dr Sarah Pollock said: ‘Literally not enough eye roll emojis in the world for this.’
Michelle Benato simply joked: ‘Mansplaying.’
Others cheekily suggested it was unfair to wrongly assume the musician’s gender.
Mark Fletcher said: ‘He may be identifying as a woman while he plays the piece.’
Twitter users were quick to point out the issue, commenting that even the pianist in the poster looked surprised by the fail by the college
A Morley College spokesman apologised for the offence caused, though said the recital will still go ahead, and updated the poster to ‘more accurately reflect the event.
He said: ‘Nikos is one of our piano tutors and his specialist academic interest is in the works of overlooked female composers.
‘He is an active campaigner for women’s equality and a great champion of composers from underrepresented groups.
‘He proposed this concert in good faith, as a means of showcasing these overlooked women composers.
‘We accept that having a woman perform may have been more appropriate for the day, but we appreciated Nikos’ motivations in proposing the concert.
‘The performer in this case is entirely secondary to the works being showcased, and we hope that this is reflected in the updated poster.’
The spokesman also claimed Morley College employ more female teaching staff than male and added: ‘To this end, Morley recognises that this poster was not in keeping with our core values, and we apologise for the offence that it has caused.’
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