Behind the Headlines | #MeToo - Then and Now

Recorded March 7, 2018. On the occasion of International Women’s
Day The Trinity Long Room Hub partnered with the Institute of Irish
Studies in Liverpool University to discuss if and how the position
of women in society has changed over the century. Professor Susan
Cahill ‘Trust Women, Listen to Women: Waking the Feminists, Repeal
the Eighth, and the Politics of Storytelling’ The #MeToo social
media phenomenon has created an unprecedented platform for women’s
voices calling out systemic sexual harassment in the entertainment
industry and beyond. In Ireland, the Waking the Feminists movement
(#WTF ) loudly queried the exclusion of women from Irish theatre
and the Repeal the 8th campaign used women’s stories to highlight
an urgent need for reproductive rights for Irish women. Professor
Susan Cahill will explore the role of personal testimony and the
politics of storytelling in feminist activism in Ireland, linking
current feminist activism with the strategies of the suffragettes
one hundred years ago. Are our voices being heard? Are we being
trusted? Who is listening? Professor Darryl Jones #MeToo in the
University In February 2018, news broke that Cambridge University
had received 173 complaints of sexual misconduct since the
establishment of its anonymous reporting system nine months
previously. Cambridge publicly admitted to having ‘a significant
problem’ with sexual misconduct. Other UK universities, such as
Manchester, have established similar reporting systems. The
#MeTooPhD hashtag has brought to public attention hundreds of
episodes of sexism and sexual harassment in universities, including
in the behaviour of students towards female lecturers (who report
often being judged on their looks, and who regularly receive less
favourable student feedback than male colleagues). Universities are
not the only institutions to be undergoing this process of
self-examination and realization. News also broke in February 2018
that the UK parliament was instituting a ‘crackdown’ on harassment
and bullying, after a survey revealed that 20% of Westminster staff
had experienced or witnessed sexual misconduct, and 39% had been
the victims of bullying. This is a critical, if not an existential
moment for universities and other institutions Professor Deirdre
Ahern Equal in Name: The Limits of Law, Then and Now Professor
Deirdre Ahern will discuss the disconnect between the recognised
values of gender equality in the law and the reality of the impact
of continuing gendered decision-making in our world. A century
after women gained the vote we take for granted that the law
provides guarantees of equal treatment and equal pay. Less certain
is the honouring of equality guarantees in practice, as evidenced
by continuing debate on the merits of gender quotas in boardrooms
and headline revelations of pay gaps for female film and media
stars. The equality and fairness debate stemming from the #MeToo
dialogue therefore allows a timely reality check in relation to the
lived experiences of women as divorced from protections offered by
the law. See the full detail of the Behind the headline series here
https://www.tcd.ie/trinitylongroomhub/whats-on/details/behind-the-headlines.php
Learn more at: https://www.tcd.ie/trinitylongroomhub/