What is necessary for social change? Why are we inherently drawn to solving symptoms while we resist embracing the ideas and action to truly catalyze structural transformation?
This is the question that has been trailing me throughout this week. We dissected and observed the LGBTQ+ movement from a new historical vantage point (that at first I was very uncomfortable with… but was just the kind of radical, unique perspective that is necessary to change the way we perceive a movement). We contemplated the Venezuelan crisis after watching WOMEN OF THE VENEZUELAN CHAOS (which touched my heart and made me strikingly more aware of a problem I had skimmed through in the news maybe once). And as we partook in these activities, I reflected on the ways we approach our grandiose goal of bettering society and what is necessary to actually make that change reality.
We can procure rights for women so that when we are discriminated against we have the choice of legal recourse… but how do we change the minds of those who suppress us? How do we empower women to be more confident about defending themselves from those who attempt to hold us down?
It seems that some combination of the two is necessary between the transformation of ideas and furnishing necessary public services, but where do we strike this balance?
With this question occupying me since the weekend, I sat down with the helpline coordinator at Legal Momentum, Mireille Martineau, on Monday. Mireille provides legal advice for women who call in having experienced everything from employment discrimination to domestic violence to campus sexual assault. She talked to me about her past experience working on urban community-based issues–affordable housing development, disaster recovery after Hurricane Sandy in 2012, and now her work at LM. Her easy, open personality and vast depth of experience on all facets of social work urged me to ask her the question still lingering in the back of my mind.
I asked her what she thought was the proper balance between non-profits working on the ground with those adversely affected by our current governing systems and the organizations that are attempting to change the laws or systems that bind communities in appalling and unjust ways. She told me, “it’s very important to provide the necessary aid to those suffering… but bureaucracy prevents us from having any real effect, which gets very frustrating.” That’s why, she says, she enjoys working at organizations who ultimate goal is to change the laws that would repair bureaucratic flaws and ensure more steady change.
Her insights are very meaningful, but the picture still feels incomplete to me… how do I truly view non-profits as actors in social change?
Right now, I conceptualize the work that NPOs do on women’s rights over a continuous spectrum. On the left, some work one-on-one and handle provision of important social goods and services; on the right are organizations that are about conceptualizing new ideas of what our society should look like that would ensure women’s rights as a social norm. Legal Momentum falls towards the right end, although it performs elements of both kinds of work. I feel like it is necessary to have cohesive action in both types of organizations because interacting with the public is what changes hearts and minds and the way society actually chooses to act… while focusing on bigger, structural issues is important to creating the space for that society to emerge. People in Venezuela need urgent assistance with food, medical supplies, and protection from crime… but this has to go hand in hand with governmental change, otherwise the resources provided for aid will be too few, too late. The LGBTQ+ movement is right for wanting to access the rights of marriage and all civil and political rights granted to heterosexual citizens of the United States… but this has to go hand in hand with transforming how we view family structures and with embracing the true idea of sexual liberation.
Right above my desk at work I can see an old picture that rests against the wall, produced in the 1970s. It reminds that these questions and thoughts are crucial to achieving equality for all genders, all sexualities, all identities. It is a jarring and very funny, but deeply thought-provoking image. Here it is:
Ms. Magazine, NOW public service announcement, July 1972.
In my mind, this picture represents what social change would look like; if the world we knew was flipped on its head. Not a world where we judge and hire men based on how attractive they are, but rather a world where it’s absolutely ridiculous to think of assessing a woman based on her appearance. I’m looking forward to that day, but even more so looking forward to working towards that ultimate transformation.
