Like, seriously, don't do those, we don't need more performative allyship!
You work in tech, and want to celebrate women’s day? Awesome. Here is a list of what not to do. Because, honestly, we are tired of your performative allyship. Do better.
Contacting women less than 3 weeks before the event.
So I guess all the advice after this one come too late, too bad, bookmark this for next year. But, seriously, people have jobs, lives, respect their time and plan ahead.
Asking women to work for free, AGAIN.
Do we really need to explain what is wrong, with, reaching out to women and asking them to write a blog post, record a video, speak at your panel, produce content that you will publish on your company’s social media, because you want to “celebrate voices”, without compensating them? And please, don’t add insult to injury by explaining you will credit their name and a link to their work. Visibility doesn’t pay the bills. You are not an ally, this is exploitation, and performative. Stop pretending you care about women in tech, while you just want free content for your klout.
Making men the center of your event.
We don’t need yet another dude keynote, mansplaining to us what an amazing ally he is. Especially not on that day. NO thanks.
Inviting only white able women. Representation matters. If your Women’s Day initiatives only focus on white, cis, able-bodied women, you’re leaving out huge parts of the community. Be better.
Miss gendering people.
We know it’s tempting to put women with non-binary people in a “not a dude” category. But, if someone came out as non-binary, there’s a good chance that, even if they “present” fem, they don’t want to be considered as a woman. So, be careful about people’s gender before inviting them. That being said, some non-binary people are okay with being associated with women in tech’s initiatives, so, when in doubt, ask them.
Making lists without people’s consent.
Making lists might sound like a good idea on paper. But lists are used for targeted harassment on many social media. So, if you are going to make a list, ask for people’s consent. And, again, be careful about miss gendering people.
Tokenizing women on March 8.
If the only time you celebrate publicly the women in your company is on March 8, you’re using women for PR. Don’t think we don’t see people, companies, and organizations with shady misogynistic behavior all year long, who pretend to be allies one day a year.
Giving women in your company extra work on that day.
If your company organizes something, whether is it’s a public or a private event, don’t make it the responsibility of women to plan, organize, and execute it. We’re already fighting for our place in tech—why should we also have to do unpaid DEI work on top of our regular jobs? If you really care, put actual resources (time, budget, effort) into it.
Creating yet another performative cliché event. Women in tech don’t need a free yoga session, a massage, or a yet another white men life coach coming to tell them they need to “believe in yourself”. We need structural changes, commitment to DEI and equity programs, not performative celebrations.
Giving out pink swag, roses, and chocolates and calling it a day.
We also don’t need another pink notebook, a rose, of a coupon for home appliance (I wish I was making that up). We need equal pay, promotion, and training programs. Invest the money in those, instead of performative gifts.
I'm sure we could find even more points, but, that's a good start. We hope this will help. And, no, we won’t tell you what to do. For once, YOU do the work.
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