10,000 Acts of Resistance

Everyday feminist rebellion. Made visible.

We live in a society that keeps asking more of women—and telling us to work on ourselves when those demands wear us down.

This is an invitation to answer back.

I’m setting out to inspire and gather 10,000 acts of resistance: ordinary women questioning what we’re expected to give, accept and believe about ourselves—and creatively declaring resistance.

Not another challenge to become a better woman. A shared project to highlight and celebrate the ways we can resist without becoming someone we’re not or giving more of ourselves.

Take a demand. Make your act of resistance.

Find a message, expectation, advertisement or piece of advice that tells you who you should be, what you should give, or how you need to fix yourself.

Then make an answer.

Write a poem across it. Paint over it with a “no”. Cross words out. Stitch, draw, collage or remake the message. Your refusal can be quiet, fierce, funny or unfinished. It does not need to be beautiful to mean something. It can be simple and it should not feel performative.

Photograph what you’ve made and contribute it to our growing collection of everyday feminist rebellion. You can choose to share anonymously if your prefer.

Button: Share your act of resistance

What are we resisting?

The expectation that you will always be available?
The advice to become more resilient when the demands never stop?
The message that your body, personality or ambition needs fixing?
The assumption that caring means giving until there is nothing left?
The expectation to carry the mental load for your family?
The bosses’ expectation to have a staff meeting at the time you need to pick up your children?
The desire to apologise, use just, or say sorry?

You choose what to challenge and how to answer. You do not have to share a painful story or explain your whole life. Resistance is in your hands.

Why gather 10,000?

Because I want us to see the expectations we are so often left to question alone, and the many ways women are already answering them.

One creative refusal will not change everything. This project is about making everyday resistance visible, recognising one another, and opening up possibilities for living differently. Together our resistance is stronger, and we encourage each other to keep living lives of small acts of resistance.

What we give, what we refuse, and what we protect for ourselves and one another can itself be a form of resistance.

Keep thinking with me

This project grows out of my writing about radical kindness and my book in progress, Resist with Kindness: feminist rebellion for ordinary life.

Receive my fortnightly letters as I explore what women are asked to give and accept—and how we can challenge those expectations in our ordinary lives.

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