Talks, Performances & Fun at “Ain’t I A Woman?” This Sunday, Mar 31
This Sunday (Mar 31), join the Hopelessly Tatiana community for an evening of guest speakers and performers to conclude this year’s Women’s History Month. Titled “Ain’t I A Woman?” after the famous Sojourner Truth speech of the same name, the event aims to showcase the experiences of different women here in Beijing as well as provide an evening full of fun, inspiration and even some prizes.
Organized by Tatiana, who created and runs the podcast and WeChat group Hopelessly Tatiana, this is one of many enlightening events that Tatiana has organized in recent years. To find out more about just what the evening will entail we got the full lowdown from Tatiana herself.
Firstly, what can the audience expect at the event?
As with all of my events, the audience can expect to be entertained and also educated. My original idea for this event was to have a panel with five speakers and a Q&A afterwards, but that didn’t feel like a Hopelessly Tatiana Women’s Day event. I want everyone to hear all of our stories, but I also want the audience to be able to be a bit more involved and energized. So I’ve added performers and a pretty extensive lucky draw.
Why did you choose the famous “Ain’t I A Woman?” speech as the event name?
Sojourner Truth is one of my favorite abolitionists because her speech has always resonated with me and so many other black women. When it comes to women’s rights, we are often not included in the discussions. The combination of our gender and race is often used to discredit our perspectives leading to our needs being either overlooked or categorized as racial issues and ignored.
Even now when we think of the gender pay gap, the number most commonly used is that women earn 80 cents for one dollar a man makes, but that’s not true. For black women it’s 69 cents and for Native American women it’s 59 cents. And that’s just in the United States, depending on the country you’re from the disparity can be even greater. Over 150 years ago, Sojourner Truth made this point and we are still trying to make it today.
Can you introduce who the other speakers are?
Absolutely, the speakers for this event will be Song Wang, Jessica Medhurst, Diva, Amber, and myself. Each speaker will talk about feminism and gender bias from their life’s perspective and since we’re from different countries and cultures, this will prove most interesting. It wouldn’t be a Hopelessly Tatiana event without some creative flare, so there will also be performances by Indi, Dorrit Ariel, Emilia Bywaters, Patience, and Miss Divine. Seeing as how this is a rather large grouping of talented women the best person I know to Host such as feat would be Fenia who recently published a book of poetry and will be one of the performers as well. It promises to be a time to remember.
What do you hope to achieve with the event?
I hope to shine a spotlight on so many of the talented women here in Beijing and to explain that feminism looks different all over the world. And I also want to unify with creativity and passion. Plus, I want it to be fun. Serious conversations are necessary, but so are love, joy, and connection. These things do not have to be mutually exclusive.
Lastly, do you have any other events planned for the future?
I have a few others plan before the summer comes. I’m currently organizing a Masquerade Ball at the end of June. Nothing says summer fun like well dressed fun and dance. Other than that, I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.
“Ain’t I A Woman?” will be taking place at Jinshang Yuan this Sunday, Mar 31 from 7-9pm. Tickets are RMB 158 and can be purchased by scanning the QR code in the posters above.
JinShangYuan
20 Xinyuanli West, Chaoyang District
朝阳区新源里西20号
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Images: Unsplash, courtesy of Tatiana
