BIPOC WOMEN IN SOCIETY

BIPOC women in the media are treated way different than a Caucasian woman or even a man would be. In 35 years from 1983 to 2017, only 17 magazines for Vogue were published with a black woman on the cover. Radhika Jones, the editor-in-chief for the magazine was determined to fix this. A lot of BIPOC women may see themselves when they are represented through the media however, if there is little to no representation how are women supposed to feel appreciated? An employee at Shutterstock has said “Visual mediums like television, movies, and of course, photography, have too often fallen short of meaningful representation. BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) and other marginalized groups are not portrayed as often, and when they are it’s often through a stereotype, perpetuating inhuman and dangerous narratives about their race, ethnicity, orientation, or gender.” Dr. Wendy Cukier, an academic director of the Women Entrepreneurship Knowledge Hub, noted that women unemployment rates were higher than the unemployment rate for men and has been higher for more than 30 years. Most of the reasons were due to their children and not being able to afford childcare. Childcare is, as Dr. Cukier says, “an economic issue and not a women’s issue.” 14 out 193 countries have 50% of women in government. Canada is one of these 14 countries, however the ratio of BIPOC women to Caucasian women is very different.  In Alberta’s provincial government, the ratio is not 50/50, and as well as this low amount of women there is an even lower amount of BIPOC representation in the cabinet. Hopefully in the future we can have a bit more of a balanced cabinet in both the Canadian and Alberta government.