EVENT! Sharing the Work: Gender Equality at Home
And ❤️ to everyone in International Development
First, I am going to start with some good news.
Writing Equal Partners was a joy, and I have been continually humbled by the response that I have received since it came out in June 2022. I still get emails from readers who write just to tell me how the book resonated with them in some way. (Those emails always make my day!)
But I’ve always said that truly understanding household equality, and really living it, is not about reading a book, or making a new to-do list, or even reassigning chores. We have each been socialized to accept certain gender norms our whole life – and it takes a long time to teach ourselves to believe something new. Living gender equality requires commitment and practice, self-reflection and dialog.
For this reason, I always appreciate the opportunity to talk about Equal Partners – and not just the book, but about how this topic is – or is not – playing out in people’s day to day lives. I’ve had this opportunity to discuss gender equality in the home with private groups, but never with a general public. Until now!
I met Rachel Husberg last year, and I am happy to report that we are collaborating to do two sessions in March – for anyone and everyone – including those reading this blog now! You can register at this link.
And (exciting) my substack readers can use code EQUAL15KATE to get $15 off! Your ticket includes a copy of Equal Partners, attendance for two at the live webinar, and an optional 30-minute coaching session with Rachel after the workshop.
And we’re REALLY excited about the content. It is a packed hour that includes tons of information and a chance for self-reflection. But most important, it is space dedicated to talking about household partnership more deeply. We hope people come with their questions, doubts, frustrations, success stories, tips and pain points.
Whatever your life stage you are welcome! Bring your partners, mom, best friend, uncle, neighbor or coworker. Gift this session to your kids or grandkids! We welcome everyone.
Spaces open on Sunday, March 16 @ 3pm ET and Thursday, March 27 @ 8:30pm ET. Register at this link.
Now for the hard part. This is the first substack blog I have written since January 20. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve sat down at a computer to try and find the words to share my own feelings – but for the first time in my life, words have failed me. Nothing seems to come out.
But today I am spending the afternoon at a laundromat (our washer broke last week – when it rains, it pours) and while I sit and wait with my jar full of quarters, I decided this was the time to force myself to write something.
To those reading who worked in International Development and lost their job – I am so, so sorry – for all of us. We didn’t just lose our job or our career, but we lost our industry. We lost colleagues we cared about. We lost projects that we believed in. There is nothing I can say that will be anything new, insightful, or helpful to you during this extraordinarily hard time. And I refuse to put on a sunny face and say something about how strength comes from what we overcome. (When you’re hurting – you don’t really want to hear that stuff.) I will just send you love, and wish you luck as we learn to navigate the “new normal.”
As for me, I’ve been a gender specialist for 20 years. And that won’t change. The US Government might not want to fund this work right now, and that means there will be a lot less money going to gender work. But that doesn’t mean the work ceases to exist, or that the conversations will stop. People will still need to talk about gender, and need to navigate their way through gender norms. And I am here for the long haul!
Longer term plans are in process. In the short term, I’m going to do something light for our collective mental wellness – to keep me writing, and to keep you reading; to give us a micro-vacation from the news, but to keep us thinking about gender.
I’ll give you a hint – she’s blue, she’s Australian, and she’s got a little sister called Bingo.
I’ll be back soon!