Democracy in Action

In the dark Wintery pre-dawn (6:30 am!) I arrived at my voting station to find that there were already people there sitting patiently waiting for the doors to open at 7 am. I was there to observe the election process and was surprised by the eager faces waiting for their chance to vote. It wasn't my first time acting as a party agent at the voting station, so I knew that the only queue that was likely to stretch out the door that day was going to be the one made by the 7 am eager beavers.

Once I got over the pre-dawn grumpiness I was really excited to see many familiar faces from my neighbourhood coming to make their mark. There was a nice atmosphere in the (short and fast moving) queue. It was also nice to see so many people walking/running to the station and bringing their dogs and children. I loved listening to parents explaining the voting process to their children and the kids being excited to be there too. Obviously I was also really happy to pet the dogs coming to the voting station too. 

There was a little eruption of youthful hot tempers at one stage of the day, but the IEC handled it really well and that party's representatives melted away looking a little sheepish about their outburst. The other party representatives there were really nice and friendly and everyone was there to just see that things went well. 

I was continuously impressed by the professionalism and friendly demeanor of the IEC representatives. It is a very long day for them and most of them managed to remain cheerful and grump-free right up until they left after 1 am. They were also very careful to make sure they did everything by the rule book, 100% correctly. I have enormous respect for the woman in charge of our station and the man in charge of the ward and for the hard work put in by all the IEC officials on Wednesday. 

SPCA made my favourite election
posters and the ones with no lies.

So, you will have gathered that I am a big fan of the democratic process. I think it is important and necessary part of our beautiful country. The downside I noticed was just how much paper and plastic there was (I cringed when one party arrived with helium balloons only for them to blow away within an hour). Elections, as important and exciting as they are, have an environmental impact that people seem a little reluctant to talk about. And I couldn't help thinking if the IEC went to the trouble of printing all those ballot papers, the people (ALL of the them) could have gone out and voted. News24 listed some of the numbers involved in the election - for example: 73 900 000 - Ballot papers printed for the 2016 election. Have a look at the rest of the numbers, they are a little mind boggling. Do ballot papers get recycled? Do party posters or "Vote here" boards get recycled? I hope that it will not be long until we can start having "free and fair" electronic elections. 

In the meantime, I am proud of my small role in Wednesday's elections. A couple of weeks ago I was listening to the radio in my car and they played "A World in Union" and I found myself tearing up and feeling sad about how far from being in union the world is (Trump, Brexit, ISIS etc. - see the first bit of my previous blog for a recap if you can stand it) and how that 1995 feeling of hope has been lost or dampened in South Africa. Today, I was in the car and when they played "A World in Union" I didn't feel sad at all because I think South Africa made a stand against corruption and stagnation on Wednesday and our democracy matured a little beyond the single party state that it has been - even the Rand is performing well! 

P.S. I hadn't heard of many of the parties on the voting roll, but if anyone knows anything about "The Greens" I am intrigued. Google search isn't helping which suggests they need to "up" their game. 

Subtle sexism

Many possible blog topics have popped into my head over the last while, but most have popped out again, or I wasn't sure how to phrase them or make them interesting to anyone not currently living inside my head. I have hesitated about this blog for about 2 weeks...

It was recently International Women's Day, which is cool. I honestly didn't know that that was a thing. I don't personally feel disadvantaged because of my gender. Of course, that's because I am lucky enough to be a white, English speaking woman with a good education and a liberal background. I am a scientist, but I think females are less under represented in biology than they are in other scientific fields.

NOW. 

I do not for a second forget that I was able to study science and be in the field that I am because of female scientists that broke ground before me. Women like Dr. Sylvia Earle who did ground-breaking scientific work that was reported in the general media in a completely patronising way (she was literally described as a "real life mermaid" - I wrote about this previously). And, women closer to home. In a rare conversation that wasn't all about my PhD with my supervisor, she pointed out how difficult it was for women to get berths on research vessels or to be taken seriously as scientists. I owe my career to women like her (not least of all for all her help with my PhD) and, more widely, the women that fought for the vote and equal rights. 

I feel a little weird about the possibility of getting funding from a particular source just because I am female and I am never sure about joining "Women in Science" groups because, like I said, I don't feel disadvantaged. 

And yet, even in my non-disadvantaged way I can't avoid the fact that there are still some things that make me, as a woman, feel frustrated. Last year during the course, my dad was in town and joined us for a braai on "National Braai Day". One of the attendees said to my dad, "You must be proud of your beautiful daughter". I recognise that is a nice statement, a complementary statement but at the same time... "You must be proud of your successful, efficient, organised, intelligent daughter" (just one would work, I am not greedy) would have made me so much happier because it was, after all, a work event (and I am all those things! ;)) 

In a strictly work environment I don't want to be described as beautiful. I don't want to be hit on. I don't want to have to worry about whether my friendly, helpfulness is being misinterpreted. 

In a more recent conversation, a person I don't really know (and who clearly doesn't know me) suggested that feminism is a bad thing or associated with man-hating. Let's be clear, most of the women and I presume, (because why wouldn't they be?) most of the men I know, are feminists. Being a feminist doesn't mean that I don't want to wear dresses, wear make-up or shave my legs (I don't really want to do that, but sometimes do anyway), it just means that I want to be seen as more than those things. I don't need to be an androgynous man-hater to be a feminist. 

It is a minefield, of course, because we are human and generalisations make life easier (and to my shame, I do occasionally objectify very handsome men - but not just because he is handsome, he also controls thunder which is awesome). Just don't presume that because I like pink (it is a fun colour that makes me happy when I wear it) and wear dresses (they are comfi - give it a try), you shouldn't take me seriously. Yes, I like pink, but I also know how to use a drill and shoot arrows (ANOTHER recent conversation with a gent at archery, his wife does shopping while he is at archery which he thinks makes sense because of traditional "hunter/gatherer" roles - don't get me started on his thoughts about genderising LEGO). Another trickiness is that I am also single and don't want to be forever, but I don't want someone making me feel icky either. 

Even making sweeping statements like: "let one of the young girls take the notes because they have nicer handwriting" is a silly thing to say - although, I do have lovely handwriting and if you make me take the notes I will write my own thoughts first.

I'm not disadvantaged but many women still are. Many women around the world don't have access to the same freedoms and privileges that I have (which I have as a result of the women that came before me). In South Africa it is culturally acceptable for a man to have multiple wives but not for a woman to have multiple husbands. This is inequality (Not that I want multiple husbands, I just want it recognised that it devalues women). In South Africa, recently it is more dangerous for women to seek solitude or exercise in open spaces and while that refers to particular incidents that made news - crime affects all genders - horrible incidents occur in this country everyday in townships and informal settlements where women can't protect themselves and men think it is OK to treat them like property. 

This blog, doesn't do anything useful. It does not help those women at all, unfortunately, I am not sure how. It is my personal opinion that as long as we tip toe around cultural polygamy and patriarchal practices women won't be equal in South Africa - not in the hearts and minds of men or, unfortunately, women (because women are often as bad about this, for example one women said she couldn't do all the work on the island because she was a women which is rubbish because there are other women that could have done it - I know some pretty amazing women - and some pretty amazing men).

I have some very strong opinions and a tendency to be obnoxious, or a bit of a buzz kill, which, believe it or not, I do try keep under wraps so I try not to moan at people I don't really know. BUT, I think I need to do what I can to make sure the women that come after me don't feel disadvantaged. I'm not sure how, but at very least it's by being the best I can be, talking about this issue and being a tiny bit of a brat. 

I LOVE this video of Emma Watson: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0Dg226G2Z8&feature=youtu.be She is genius and far more eloquent than I am. 

"If not me, who? If not now, when?"

Read these posts for a different perspective: 

This one is fabulous: http://mic.com/articles/100466/13-feminist-comedians-prove-just-how-fun-challenging-the-patriarchy-can-be#.y3RcIX6f4

Science gender gap: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2015/04/30/sexism-in-science-peer-editor-tells-female-researchers-their-study-needs-a-male-author/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2015/01/08/men-on-the-internet-dont-believe-sexism-is-a-problem-in-science-even-when-they-see-evidence/

Beyond Facebook

I mentioned my general resolution to make the most of life last year but it is also important to have measurable/ achievable goals. (I think there is an acronym - SMART goals? Specific Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Timely). One of my 2016 goals is to create more public awareness around the issue of plastic microbeads. To this end, I have been trying to get local papers to publish my articles. 

Thanks J for letting me use your hand!

J I know you were bummed about the plastic in your present
but it has been super helpful having pictures - silver linings.

I am not sure if I really expected them to agree, and to be honest, while six (out of 36) have at least responded, I have only seen one article (but YAY the South Coast Herald). I have high hopes about the other papers (eternal optimist) - particularly Kempton Express because they emailed back to ask me my designation. 

I have also contacted 50|50, Cosmopolitan (they are personal care products after all) and Go, Getaway and Caxton Magazines (Green = responded, Red = silence). Facebook is remarkably useful for this. I am hoping there will be a guest blog on the Two Oceans Aquarium website soon too. Anyway, I am mentioning all this because I think this is important but I don't have any experience in this kind of thing (I have learnt that it is important to mention my name and organisation in the text in case they don't say who wrote the article - oops). I would love it if anyone has some suggestions. 

I am REALLY excited about the picture that N did for us - I think it is beautiful and you know what they say about a picture saying a thousand words...

 (I tend to opt for the thousand words because my artistic skills extend to colouring in - not always in the lines - but this time I will keep it short). 

PS In my work capacity I have been very careful to not mention brands but that picture is a SORBET product - they say they only have three that include plastic and they are phasing it out - but in the mean time, don't buy it. J has also alerted me to the fact that there are little colourful beads in some household cleaning agents e.g. MR MUSCLE. They don't mention plastic as an ingredient ("encapsulated beads" of what, I ask?) but keep a look out for sneaky plastic.

PPS SO bad at keeping it short. Promise I am done now!