{"id":5491,"date":"2016-06-01T15:45:04","date_gmt":"2016-06-01T05:45:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.taramoss.com\/?p=5491"},"modified":"2016-07-03T08:48:01","modified_gmt":"2016-07-02T22:48:01","slug":"speaking-out-a-21st-century-handbook-for-women-and-girls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.taramoss.com\/speaking-out-a-21st-century-handbook-for-women-and-girls\/","title":{"rendered":"Speaking Out: A 21st Century Handbook for Women and Girls – an extract"},"content":{"rendered":"

My 11th book<\/a> and 2nd work of non-fiction, Speaking Out: A 21st Century Handbook for Women and Girls<\/em><\/a>\u00a0is officially out today. Yes, I have written a handbook.<\/p>\n

Why a handbook? And why now?<\/p>\n

This book arose partly from the hundreds of questions I have been asked by women and girls in recent years. Questions like,\u00a0‘How do you find the confidence to speak out?’ ‘How do you handle trolls?’ ‘How do you form an argument?’ ‘How do you research?’ ‘How do you do public speaking?’<\/em> \u00a0It was also written because of the shocking statistic that worldwide fewer than 1 in 4 people we hear from or about in the media is female<\/a>, meaning that voices in public discourse are disproportionately male. In addition to this, there is equally uncomfortable data showing that women are still massively outnumbered <\/a>in parliaments, leadership positions, boardrooms and more, including in public debates that specifically relate to women\u2019s rights and women\u2019s bodies<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Why\u00a0Speaking Out<\/em>? Here is a short extract from the book to explain:<\/p>\n

To speak is to be human.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Having a voice is part of what makes us human, and freedom of speech \u2013 being allowed to use our voice \u2013 is one primary sign of living in a \u2018free\u2019 society. As social animals, communication is a central part of being human. Speaking and being heard is a vital acknowledgment of both our status as fellow beings worthy of being heard and our similarities, and for this reason many a philosopher has contemplated just how differently we might treat animals if they were able to speak our language \u2013 or we theirs. Language connects us.<\/p>\n

Our voices connect us. When we are silent or unheard our ideals and perspectives, our needs, our pain, and our struggles remain unknown or unacknowledged; and often for this reason, unchanged.<\/p>\n

Despite the relative freedom we enjoy in the \u2018West\u2019 (a term which commonly includes Australia and New Zealand, quite \u2018East\u2019) and new opportunities to speak out, including on digital platforms and social media, commenting on a subject in the public sphere is not always easy or simple. There are specific challenges that face many segments of the population in speaking out and being heard, or surviving the process. These include challenges relating to gender, race, sexual orientation, class, culture and disability. In this book I aim to examine the challenges posed by gender \u2013 specifically those facing women and girls \u2013 the external obstacles of silencing, dismissals, bullying and threats of violence, and the internal challenges of crises of confidence, and knowing just how and when to speak out.<\/p>\n

Why write this book? Because the world has become more receptive to the voices of women in recent decades and at the same time it has become more violently opposed to women\u2019s voices.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"G0160<\/p>\n

Today, when less than one out of every four people we hear from or about is female, this fact bears examination. Just what are women experiencing when they speak out? If you want to be heard, what strategies work? This book attempts to answer some of those questions, and more.<\/p>\n

Technology has created exciting new opportunities to speak out. A lot of our interaction with the world, including private communications and public \u2018speaking out\u2019, is now performed digitally, from simple social-media communications or instant messages to blogs and other electronic publishing. Technology has provided new spaces for people to respond, sometimes politely and constructively, sometimes savagely, with women emerging as particular targets of online harassment and abuse, in gendered and even violently sexualised ways. As many women like myself know all too well, having an opinion as a woman online now comes with gendered abuse, almost as an expectation. Speak out against rape and murder\u2026 get rape and death threats. Speak out against inequality and have your \u2018f*ckability\u2019 rating assessed by trolls, who presumably think this is the only use for a woman.<\/p>\n

Recognising the common language and methods used by trolls and abusers does not necessarily remove these unpleasant realities \u00a0but it does provide perspective, and helpful armour. For this reason, Speaking Out focuses on several forms of speaking out, including public speaking and writing, but has a particular focus on online experiences; what can happen and what can be done about it, with advice from women who have been there.<\/p>\n

One of my aims is to give practical advice to anyone who feels trepidation about the critics \u2013 both the constructive kind and the unconstructive \u2013 and the trolls. But another is to build confidence and knowledge through shared experience. Because by retelling our triumphs and failures, and the responses we got along the way, we get a greater sense of strength. By comparing notes, we can learn to recognise and differentiate constructive criticism from the silencing and the trolling, and most importantly, know that we are human and in this together.<\/p>\n

– This is an edited extract from Speaking Out: A 21st Century Handbook for Women and Girls<\/em><\/a> by Tara Moss, published by HarperCollins Publishers.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Speaking<\/a><\/p>\n

First reviews:<\/strong><\/p>\n

‘Moss has written a guide for women who want to speak out in a world that would prefer them quiet. One of the great strengths of Speaking Out is its accessibility. Moss provides clear, simple strategies to cope with the often disproportionately aggressive response women receive when they speak out, particularly online.’\u00a0Jane Gilmore, The Guardian<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

‘Speaking Out is the sister book to The Fictional Woman, the next step in the evolution of Moss as one of our most intriguing and accomplished media personalities. Here she shares the wisdom…encouraging her female readers to find their voice and use it. Along the way are tips about presentation, research, how to face down critics, deal with social media hostility and vicarious trauma. Few people will gain access to the kind of exposure that Moss generates, but no matter where or when we want to defend a right, at a community meeting, a march, a rally or any other situation which requires eloquence, courage, indignation or a desire for change, there are valuable tools and skills to be learned here from one of the best in the business.’ –\u00a0<\/span>Caroline Baum,\u00a0Booktopia<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

‘This book by Tara Moss is so very important. It has been an eye-opening read for me and it has changed my life. If every young man and every young woman was given a copy of this book it would make so many small changes in individual behaviours that we might just be able to begin to tackle a problem that is often invisible to us.’ –\u00a0Krissy Kneen, Avid Reader<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"G0160<\/p>\n

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My 11th book and 2nd work of non-fiction, Speaking Out: A 21st Century Handbook for Women and Girls is officially out today. Why Speaking Out? Why a handbook? And why now? This book arose partly from the shocking statistic that worldwide fewer than 1 in 4 people we hear from or about in the media is female…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5523,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":""},"categories":[6,10,13],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.taramoss.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5491"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.taramoss.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.taramoss.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.taramoss.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.taramoss.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5491"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.taramoss.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5491\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5519,"href":"https:\/\/www.taramoss.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5491\/revisions\/5519"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.taramoss.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5523"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.taramoss.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5491"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.taramoss.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5491"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.taramoss.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5491"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}