Your reports Find reports The inclusivity/diversity thing – why are women so often excluded when we’re trying to be inclusive/diversive? The inclusivity/diversity thing – why are women so often excluded when we’re trying to be inclusive/diversive? Convener(s): Stella Duffy Participants: Sarah Dickenson, Sarah Sansom, Laura MacDougall, Rajni Shah, Amy Ip, Leyla Asadi, Emily Hodgson, Mandy F, Kate Maravan, Angela Clerkin Summary of discussion, conclusions and/or recommendations: how/why has female/women become a box-tick in the list of diversity? Women are 52% of the population, not a minority and part of every minority that exists! funding cuts affect women more, stats showing 72% of current cuts directly affect women nobody checks which box you’ve ticked, it’s enough to be ‘diverse’ we live in a box-ticking culture it’s not enough to put on seasons of plays where there are loads of writers of colour, if none or very few of those writers are women – if it’s about diversity, that diversity needs to include women writers many lit depts. now needing/wanting companies to come to them with packaged shows, ie, other money, producing in place, this can favour men makers/writers if they have their own companies more than women – also means is harder for theatres to commission lone writers/makers, if the theatre is needing them to come with support women need/can/should/will (?) support other women more there has been a time of developing young women writers, many of them out there now, but no continuity to support them, and harder in a time of recession men more likely to send in a first draft, to put up with rejections, to come back for more – women, conversely, more likely to send in a finished/nearly-finished article – while this has benefits, it can mean that a theatre that likes to be involved in development doesn’t feel there’s anything for them to do. we’re so grateful about getting anything (esp as gay/queer/people of colour/disabled etc) that we don’t want to be seen to rock the boat by demanding even more more honesty would help, so many of us are terrified of losing funding, losing support, that we take – gratefully – what we’re given and fail to fully question things we find upsetting/inappropriate. Honesty is a catalyst for change and so what can we do? as with the Women on Top discussion, we need to be thinking more consciously, in all decision-making. (eg, if we’re programming a race/ethnicity-identified season – or merely trying to be more inclusive - to be sure we have women writers and makers in that season too) it might need us speaking up, not being afraid or ashamed to call ourselves/our work feminist (as women AND as men) stop apologizing be upfront (on race/ethnicity/ablism concerns as well as sexism)