September 1, 2022

Celebrating International Women’s Day: Cindy Gallop

March 8th is International Women’s Day. Here we talk to founder of MakeLoveNotPorn, Cindy Gallop, about her thoughts on the global celebration and if it’s actually useful to women.

1)     What doesdoes International Women's Day mean to you?

Amy Nolan (@mylifescribble on Instagram) summed it up beautifully in this cartoon. This is exactly what International Women’s Day means to me.

2)    What dodo you believe can be done to address gender stereotypes? 

Hire and promote women to create, approve, direct, shoot and produce every part of popular culture. Lo and behold, not only will we have no more gender stereotypes and better depictions of women, we will also have better depictions of men.

3)    What progressprogress have you seen on gender equality in your life and work?

Very little.

4)    What’s youryour International Women’s Day message?

Today, on International Women’s Day, and on every other day, don’t use words for women like ‘empower’ and ‘celebrate’. Instead, use words like ‘hire’, ‘promote’, ‘pay’, ‘raise’, ‘bonus’, ‘fund’, ‘invest in’, ‘enrich’, ‘give equity’ ‘elect’, ‘govern’, ‘lead’. And don’t just say it, DO it.

5)    What willwill you be doing to celebrate IWD?

I will not be speaking to the organizations who asked me to speak and weren’t willing to pay my speaking fee.  I will be speaking to the one organization that was.

6)   What areare the most effective ways to counteract the negative stereotypes of feminism, especially in the workplace?

If you hold a negative stereotype of feminism, you’re the problem. That’s not a problem any woman should waste time, effort and energy on addressing.

7)    What doesdoes it mean for you to be a woman leading the sexual wellness space?

I’m out to change the world through sex and make a lot of money doing it, which means investors should be falling over themselves to join the serious round of funding I’m about to raise for MakeLoveNotPorn.

8)    Share aa women’s empowerment moment that inspired you?

Don’t empower me – pay me. For decades I’ve been telling women that the amount you ask for is always the highest amount you can say out loud without actually bursting out laughing. I’m inspired every time a woman messages me to tell me she did that, and got it. I get those messages every week – the latest one was just yesterday. That inspires the hell out of me.