Stuff the Table! I'm building a new one…
Listening, Learning, Growing & Reflecting on a Tedx Talk
Elizabeth's TedXUNSWSydney Talk
Real talk - sometimes we think we know things and then if we are lucky, we are given an opportunity to be smacked down by growth and learning.
2020-2023 has been that smackdown for a lot of us. Whilst I am still proud of my 2018 TedX talk, (link above) the indisputable pain that engrosses the world has made me reflect, unlearn a whole bunch and relearn.
I don’t think they invite you back for a Ted talk reunion to say
“wait but I learnt *EVEN MORE* and some of what I said before was naive and needed deeper investigation! I didn’t even have grey hairs then!”
So here are my reflections and I hope I continue to have more, listen more and learn more.
CAUSE WHEN YOU KNOW BETTER YOU DO BETTER.
F*CK THE TABLE
The table I thought I wanted to sit at has a frame that suits the privileged and excludes many. It’s a table that makes you feel inferior so that you focus on getting an uncomfortable, restricted seat rather than how faulty the table is. I don’t want a bar of that table anymore (pun kinda intended). I want to collaboratively build a new one.
BUILDING
In my talk, I acknowledged my privilege as a white middle-class woman but now I want to build on that. It is up to me and my privilege to listen, believe and rage against the exclusion of my colleagues who are underrepresented due to race, gender or sexuality. I am responsible to help build different frameworks and demand space.
WAGE GAP
The wage gap is shocking in the Arts but I would now like to address the gap that starts before anyone even starts working in the Arts. I was able to study and pursue a career in theatre because my parents supported me financially. In 2020, the Liberal federal government nearly doubled the cost of studying humanities.
As a consequence, the pool of voices in the Arts is about to become even smaller and even more privileged.
F*CK QUANTIFYING
“Female directors”
“Female creators”
I remember saying this and it annoyed me at the time.
Let me rephrase -
DIRECTORS. CREATORS.
INVESTIGATION
We didn’t get a huge uptake when we blind cast - in my talk I made assumptions about why. I didn’t address the institutional issues in the Arts. I will commit to more community discovery, discussion, cohesion and investigation on how we can do better on and off the stage.
“DIVERSITY”
I have pangs now when I hear the word “diversity” after reading Angela Davis
“Diversity without structural transformation simply brings those who were previously excluded into a system as racist, misogynist, as it was before.”
I want to be part of the transformation.
THE FUTURE
In summation, I and 63 Globes want to incorporate our learning into our practice. As Angela Davis says
