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ZORICA LLOYD
BEING A WOMAN, WHAT MAKES YOU POWERFUL IN THIS COMMUNITY?
"So my first reaction is that's an interesting question because in our community more often you don’t see female teachers and so it's a kind of a feeling that you expect to see the most. I’m a math teacher so maybe you don't get to see the math as much. So, I don't know that I feel part of that but I do believe seeing a woman as a mathematician, people see that as a powerful thing. You're not an interesting person who may have something to say but what would make me powerful in our community. When I'm having conversations with students whether it's in class or after-school activity, just the fact that I have discussions with them about any kind of identity about gender about race about whatever, I don't back away from stuff like that. I will point out as women people are less likely to see us as competition, as women that you know we’re there and so I think just the fact that my voice is heard and I allow my voice to be heard is powerful. I do my best to let our students have their voice heard. I think that's what makes me powerful and that's not necessarily only related to women, it has a related identity to some degree."
DO YOU THINK WOMEN'S VOICES ARE NOT CONSIDERED IN SOCIETY TODAY, WHY OR WHY NOT?
"I wouldn't say not considered… I would say that depends with the society you're talking about Bute voices are better heard in some societies than others. I would say I think in every society our voices are probably less heard than men's. Why? Lots of reasons. One reason is a great success story I think plays a lot of roles and we see ourselves, whether it's be advertising or not. Whether it's music, TV, in books to even in classrooms… An activity I did with my students and it was like “draw a picture of your favourite mathematician”, and of course we see all white males with glasses. That was funny but very few people drew females and then we talk about why it’s like that… they're like well they're not necessarily being biased it's just that maybe women aren't really scientists or mathematicians or maybe because you know historically women weren't allowed to do things. Maybe that's why there aren't as many now. I then tell them… well do you know that for a fact or do you just assume? Another thing that I think there are media where women are portrayed in a particular way and so it's kind of like. well, you don't have that much power so you don't have anything important to say. You could maybe sneak or dance and so people don't think to listen or see exactly what’s being conveyed by that particular picture."
HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT GENDER INEQUALITY AND WAGE GAPS IN OUR WORLD TODAY?
"Gender equality, I believe we should have every kind of equality and I think a problem is because it hasn’t been that way, people don’t necessarily realise it’s a problem. Things fall into our subconscious and so sometimes we don’t realise that the thing has happened. We have biases against other women and we don’t realise that we have them and so when It comes to gender equality is as we are making the genders more equal, we have to focus on both of them. I feel like right now, hopefully, we are having more conversations about other communities such as the LGBTQ+ but I don’t think we’re actually having a conversation about males. I think that’s affecting a lot of things, for example before we used to say females are weak and that you should be paid less and now we’re saying, oh yes you should be paid the same and be strong but we’re not giving those messages to males. And so now, if you’re telling one group to be strong and the other to be weak, that’s wrong. For wage gaps its the same thing, you’re telling women to assert themselves with work and I think that’s great but if CEO’s have always been males and you’ve studied higher than men and people still think that women are not smart, then it doesn’t matter what you tell them. So now there is no balance. For wage gapes, I just think people are very slick with them."
WHAT IS A TRAIT, CHARACTERISTIC, PERSON OR GROUP THAT HAS MADE YOU A PROUD WOMAN TODAY?
"I think I would have to say anybody who fights for anybody because I think wherever I’m oppressed, any group of people who stand up for themselves really inspires me to be powerful. I’m broken, I’m great at some things, I’m a hot mess in other placed, so what? You’re not going to back me down, you’re not going to tell me that I'm worth less than anybody. So really any group whether its people who are fighting for their rights based on their sexuality, race, if its countries who think they are not being recognised, all of that stuff reminds that I should fight for myself and for others."
IF YOU WERE TO BE PORTRAYED IN A PORTRAIT OF YOURSELF, HOW DO OYU SEE IT?
"I think I would just be a simple portrait of me with my smile. I would want it to be simple. I guess I wouldn’t want anything around me and I don’t want anything to bother the audience. Something simple somehow tells a better story, like forget what they’re wearing and what’s around them, if she’s simply showing her face, you have to ask to get to know the person better. Basically, “I can’t tell anything about her, then I have to ask her”."
Das, Sandeepa, and Zorica Lloyd. “Women in Power.” 30 Nov. 2018.
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