The 8th of March is International Women’s Day, and in Ireland this marks the launch of an amazing movement that we can’t wait to be part of. It’s called 20x20
20×20 is an all-inclusive movement to shift Ireland’s cultural perception of women’s sport by 2020 with:
• a 20% increase in media coverage of women in sport
• a 20% increase in female participation at all levels of sport
• a 20% increase in attendance at women’s games and events
Everyone can help accelerate progress in this country by pledging to do just one small thing to help start this giant shift for female sport.
If you’re a teacher/school/club who can help create greater opportunities for girls, a journalist or creator who can help increase visibility of female athletes and their competitions, a parent or friend who can attend a match - or a person who can simply encourage a young woman to get involved in sport, we need you to show your stripes! Because if she can’t see it, she can’t be it.
I think the idea of the movement is to get to a point where "women's sport" is just seen as "sport" - that it's as valued and respected as the men's teams. And from that, young girls will have the option to have women role models in their sports as well as men: hence the idea of "if she can't see it, she can't be it."
As an artist and a creator, I pledge to create 20 pieces by 2020, to help raise awareness and the involvement of women in sport and the outdoors - be it interviews with inspiring women, videos, writing on my experiences of sport and the outdoors, or however else I find to share this important message! If we are focused encouraging young girls to keep doing the things they love in regards to sports and the outdoors, there needs to be more coverage of the women that are breaking world records, achieving amazing things.
#ShowYourStripes after filming our video about 20x20
Reading through 20x20.ie, they have so much important support - many government bodies and local sporting authorities - but this needs to be something that everyone shares. So whatever idea you have, whatever your pledge is, make sure that when you share it to include one of their hashtags - #20x20 #ShowYourStripes #CantSeeCantBe.
This week’s video is also focused on the 20x20 movement, sharing my pledge and sharing my stripes!
If you have an idea for a pledge and want some help let me know and I’ll help however I can! And if you have any recommendations for the 20 things I’m going to make over the coming months make sure to leave a comment or send me a message. For now I’ll leave you with a piece I wrote a while ago about long distance hiking and having periods 👣
Some stills from the video of me adding and sharing my stripes. If she can’t see, she can’t be!
