Women Wednesday #11

(Express) 

An unnecessary comment from a man prompted a spontaneous display of solidarity by a number of women on an Underground train, in London. On New Year's Eve, an unidentified man told a woman on the tube to stop applying her makeup, as “it’s vulgar.” To counteract this unwanted and demeaning public humiliation, every woman on the tube got out her makeup and applied it defiantly. A woman live tweeting the action gathered even more messages of solidarity, getting over 1000 retweets. We love when women come together to support one another! Anyone got a lipstick we could borrow?

Bolivia

(REUTERS/David Mercado)

The indigenous women of La Paz, Bolivia are defying traditional gender stereotypes in the form of mountaineering. Traditionally completing base-camp jobs such as cooking at the tourist friendly mountains, the women put on their boots and dared to become the mountain tour guides. A member of the Cholitas, the group of woman mountaineers, said; "First, I was a porter, then a cook, but the tourists asked me what it was like up on Huayna Potosi and I had to climb up so I could find out and tell them." They complete their mountain tours in their traditional outfits, a nod to femininity and reinforcing their message that women can be feminine and complete traditionally male jobs. Good on you ladies!

(Open Society Foundation)

 
Tiffany Mugo, a woman in South Africa, is working hard to encourage safe lesbian sex through an online platform. HOLAAfrica, was set up in 2012, and publishes “written, audio and visual material by queer African women at home and in the diaspora and engage in activism, knowledge production and awareness building.” Mugo recognises that “there needs to be a shift in mindset, both in the medical community and in the LGBT community,” and intends to be leading the way. There are posts on consent, body positivity, and safe sex to name a few topics, all of which are invaluable. We think she's incredible for setting up a space to support and educate queer women, and wish her every success!