I love the intention behind this, but I’m not sure I love the slogan “fearless female runner”. To me, fearless is not something we can be (yet): to be fearless in a world where you can be harassed, cat-called and whatnot when you’re out in the street as a woman runner seems naive. The fear is there to make you alert: it makes you scan your surroundings and calculate whether you can run there or better not. The slogan also suggests that it’s the women who need to change, rather than the system. Instead of making women fearless, we should create a world where you don’t have to use that fear to protect yourself. Instead of creating fearless female runner, we should create decent men. But I guess that doesn’t aliterate as nicely.
Thank you for this, Danielle. I agree with you that the wording can be misinterpreted. This is where T-shirt slogans have their limitations, because they are not essays. But what this slogan is about is creating an environment where women are not afraid. Where there is no need to be afraid, where being 'fearless' is the natural state. It's not the women who need to change, it's the patriarchal system. It is not easy to put all this on a shirt and still keep the message powerful, but what I/we should aim for with such statements is dialogue. And that dialogue allows us to specify what we really mean by our words.
I love the intention behind this, but I’m not sure I love the slogan “fearless female runner”. To me, fearless is not something we can be (yet): to be fearless in a world where you can be harassed, cat-called and whatnot when you’re out in the street as a woman runner seems naive. The fear is there to make you alert: it makes you scan your surroundings and calculate whether you can run there or better not. The slogan also suggests that it’s the women who need to change, rather than the system. Instead of making women fearless, we should create a world where you don’t have to use that fear to protect yourself. Instead of creating fearless female runner, we should create decent men. But I guess that doesn’t aliterate as nicely.
Thank you for this, Danielle. I agree with you that the wording can be misinterpreted. This is where T-shirt slogans have their limitations, because they are not essays. But what this slogan is about is creating an environment where women are not afraid. Where there is no need to be afraid, where being 'fearless' is the natural state. It's not the women who need to change, it's the patriarchal system. It is not easy to put all this on a shirt and still keep the message powerful, but what I/we should aim for with such statements is dialogue. And that dialogue allows us to specify what we really mean by our words.
Hi
danke für Dein Statement für Frauen, das ist so wichtig! Und ein Longsleeve habe ich gerade bestellt mit Fearless Female runner
Tausend Dank Dir!