Voice out now, or we'd risk passing down Manterruption like an heirloom garment to our daughters.
It’s a pleasure to contribute a piece of art work to the Woman Interrupted App, and my coordinator, Nathalie has been really helpful and understanding throughout the process. To recall, when she first approached me for this project, I was thrilled since it would be my first time contributing to a cause that I believe in, with my own creation . However, I felt a crippling sense of fear days later - what if people don’t like my statement on this issue? As we are all aware, online comments and the mob mentality can get really vicious these days when the platform to express oneself is so easily available to anyone, anywhere and anytime. I don’t want to end up as another victim of internet abuse, especially when I’m already feeling vulnerable working as a female illustrator/designer. Sometimes, I think that my voice has no place in this world. Thankfully, my friend and ex-colleague Laura was there to talk me out of this negativity and encouraged me to proceed. It was just a simple conversation that reminded me why did I feel so strongly about manterrupting issue. Having worked at a male-dominant environment, I’ll not forget how exhausting and powerless it feels to keep repeating yourself just get a simple message across to the men. It’s even dangerous to think that this behaviour was normal or even benign.
We’re being made fun of, just for voicing out our own opinions. I can still vividly remember the burning embarrassment I felt when my ex loudly interrupted me in front of his college mates for some minor disagreement. He even tossed my purse across the classroom for no apparent reason, and it landed straight into the dustbin. I was shocked. Nobody dare to stepped out to help me, not until 30 minutes later someone pointed out his behaviour was inappropriate to him, while I was struggling to calm myself down in the toilet.
Of course, there were more dire cases compared to my experience. However, I’ll like to end this with this note:
Modern women still have to work harder to get their voices heard. Should we allow that to go on? Is that the belief we should teach the next generation of girls?
