Challenging bias and inequality

 In Bulalicious Blogs

Bula from Fiji! My birthday was March 1st and this year I was very blessed to be invited out to a small luxury hotel in Kadavu, which is the group of islands to the south of the capital Suva, to spend a couple of days testing the facilities prior to its opening in a few weeks’ time. Oh what a struggle that was…NOT!

Also in March is International Women’s Day (IWD), on the 8th and I’ve been asked to be a guest speaker at one of the many venues in Suva where the day will be marked. The topic I’m to speak on is “Challenging Bias and Inequality”.

While out scuba diving last Sunday at the resort, swimming between towering coral walls I got to thinking about how I’d relate to my audience on IWD. I decided that a good idea would be to use my own love of water-sports and exercise to challenge bias and inequality in a conflicted place like Fiji where it is very unusual to see a local woman of 49 in shorts and a rashie heading out on a longboat with a bunch of guys to dive for the village’s Sunday lunch; scuba-diving; going to Boxfit classes and yet still managing to look half decent whilst emceeing an awards event where the Prime Minister is among 500 guests as I do.

I want to challenge my multiracial female audience not to allow what they feel are cultural norms to keep them from enjoying life to the full.

Case in point, last weekend, a young Muslim woman from Australia who had arrived at the port of Suva on a cruise ship as a tourist, came to the gym where I workout and competed alongside fellow CrossFit athletes wearing a Muslim headscarf.

I think I have lots of material for my talk.

Happy International Women’s Day!

Love Lenora

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