0:00:00.699,0:00:02.579
Why do we think

0:00:02.603,0:00:07.894
that stories by men are deemed[br]to be of universal importance,

0:00:07.918,0:00:12.773
and stories by women are thought[br]to be merely about women?

0:00:14.813,0:00:17.552
My grandmother left school[br]when she was 12.

0:00:17.576,0:00:19.247
She had 14 children.

0:00:20.356,0:00:22.247
My mother left school when she was 15.

0:00:22.271,0:00:23.672
She was a secretary.

0:00:23.696,0:00:27.454
I graduated from university[br]to become a theater director,

0:00:27.478,0:00:31.637
and that progress is entirely to do[br]with the fact that people I'll never meet

0:00:31.661,0:00:33.909
fought for women to have rights,

0:00:33.933,0:00:37.074
get the vote, get education,[br]have progress.

0:00:37.098,0:00:40.683
And I'm determined to do the same,[br]and obviously you are, too.

0:00:40.707,0:00:41.884
Why not?

0:00:41.908,0:00:43.465
(Applause)

0:00:43.489,0:00:47.201
So I started a festival called WOW,[br]Women of the World, seven years ago,

0:00:47.225,0:00:50.229
and it's now in 20 countries[br]across five continents.

0:00:50.253,0:00:53.604
And one of those countries[br]is Somaliland in Africa.

0:00:53.628,0:00:55.843
So I traveled there last year,

0:00:55.867,0:01:01.460
and part of the joy I had in going there[br]was going to these caves.

0:01:02.722,0:01:04.898
The Laas Geel caves.

0:01:04.922,0:01:10.436
Now, these caves contain some[br]of the oldest cave paintings in the world.

0:01:10.999,0:01:16.274
These paintings are thought to be[br]round about 9,000 to 11,000 years old.

0:01:17.110,0:01:18.539
Art:

0:01:18.563,0:01:22.326
what humanity has done[br]ever since it evolved.

0:01:22.350,0:01:24.473
It's how we speak about ourselves,

0:01:24.497,0:01:26.434
how we understand our identity,

0:01:26.458,0:01:28.206
how we look at our surroundings,

0:01:28.230,0:01:31.301
who we find out about each other

0:01:31.325,0:01:33.535
because of the meaning of our lives.

0:01:33.559,0:01:34.883
That's what art is for.

0:01:35.971,0:01:37.933
So look at this little picture.

0:01:37.957,0:01:39.903
I think it's a little girl.

0:01:39.927,0:01:42.703
I thought it was a bit like me[br]when I was a little girl.

0:01:43.195,0:01:47.362
And I thought, well, who painted[br]this joyful, youthful figure?

0:01:47.386,0:01:49.490
And I asked the curator of the caves.

0:01:49.514,0:01:53.032
I said, "Tell me about the men[br]and women who painted these."

0:01:53.056,0:01:56.533
And he looked at me[br]absolutely askance, and he said,

0:01:56.557,0:01:58.769
"Women didn't paint these pictures."

0:01:59.241,0:02:01.745
And I said, "Well,[br]it was 11,000 years ago."

0:02:01.769,0:02:03.228
I said, "How do you know?"

0:02:03.252,0:02:05.779
(Laughter)

0:02:05.803,0:02:09.534
And he said, "Women don't do these things.

0:02:09.558,0:02:13.197
Men made these marks. Women don't."

0:02:14.547,0:02:18.317
Now, I wasn't really surprised,

0:02:18.341,0:02:22.399
because that's an attitude[br]that I've seen continuously

0:02:22.423,0:02:25.195
all my life as a theater maker.

0:02:26.552,0:02:32.362
We are told that divine knowledge[br]comes down through the masculine,

0:02:32.386,0:02:36.973
whether it be to the imam,[br]the priest, the rabbi, the holy man.

0:02:37.421,0:02:42.717
Similarly, we're told that creative genius[br]resides in the masculine,

0:02:42.741,0:02:44.487
that it is the masculine

0:02:44.511,0:02:47.576
that will be able to tell us[br]about who we really are,

0:02:47.600,0:02:50.667
that the masculine will tell[br]the universal story

0:02:50.691,0:02:52.578
on behalf of all of us,

0:02:52.602,0:02:57.177
whereas women artists will really[br]just talk about women's experiences,

0:02:57.201,0:03:00.577
women's issues[br]only really relevant to women

0:03:00.601,0:03:03.579
and of passing interest to men --

0:03:03.603,0:03:05.505
and really only some men.

0:03:05.909,0:03:08.180
And it's that conviction,

0:03:08.204,0:03:09.585
that that we are taught,

0:03:09.609,0:03:13.409
that I think colors so much[br]of whether we're prepared to believe

0:03:13.433,0:03:15.934
that women's stories really matter.

0:03:15.958,0:03:19.505
And unless we're prepared to believe[br]that women's stories really matter,

0:03:19.529,0:03:22.519
then women's rights don't really matter,

0:03:22.543,0:03:25.215
and then change can't really come.

0:03:26.876,0:03:31.586
I want to tell you[br]about two examples of stories

0:03:31.610,0:03:34.548
that are thought to be[br]of universal importance:

0:03:34.572,0:03:37.328
"E.T." and "Hamlet."

0:03:37.352,0:03:40.463
(Laughter)

0:03:40.487,0:03:43.753
So I took my two children[br]when they were little --

0:03:43.777,0:03:47.027
Caroline was eight and Robby was five --

0:03:47.051,0:03:48.618
to see "E.T."

0:03:48.642,0:03:52.027
And it's a fantastic story[br]of this little alien

0:03:52.051,0:03:54.002
who ends up in an American family

0:03:54.026,0:03:57.235
with a mum, two brothers and a sister,

0:03:57.259,0:03:58.902
but he wants to go home.

0:03:59.720,0:04:02.340
Not only that, but some[br]really bad scientists

0:04:02.364,0:04:04.738
want to do some experiments on him,

0:04:04.762,0:04:06.448
and they're looking for him.

0:04:06.993,0:04:09.049
So the children have a plot.

0:04:09.073,0:04:11.910
They decide they're going to take him[br]back to his spaceship

0:04:11.934,0:04:13.085
as soon as they can,

0:04:13.109,0:04:14.983
and they plop him in a bicycle basket,

0:04:15.007,0:04:16.349
and off they ride.

0:04:16.373,0:04:20.269
But unfortunately, the baddies[br]have found out, and they're catching up

0:04:20.293,0:04:22.650
and they've got sirens[br]and they've got their guns,

0:04:22.674,0:04:25.348
they've got the loud-hailers,[br]it's terribly frightening,

0:04:25.372,0:04:27.292
and they're closing up on the children,

0:04:27.316,0:04:29.412
and the children are never[br]going to make it.

0:04:29.436,0:04:33.529
And then all of a sudden, magically,[br]the bikes fly up in the air,

0:04:33.553,0:04:35.092
over the clouds,

0:04:35.116,0:04:36.304
over the moon,

0:04:36.328,0:04:38.619
and they're going to save "E.T."

0:04:39.394,0:04:41.672
So I turn to see my children's faces,

0:04:41.696,0:04:46.166
and Robby is enraptured,[br]he's there with them, he's saving E.T.,

0:04:46.190,0:04:48.046
he's a happy boy.

0:04:48.070,0:04:51.208
And I turn to Caroline,[br]and she's crying her eyes out.

0:04:51.866,0:04:53.411
And I said, "What's the matter?"

0:04:53.435,0:04:58.970
And she said, "Why can't I save E.T.?[br]Why can't I come?"

0:04:59.422,0:05:01.781
And then all of a sudden I realized:

0:05:01.805,0:05:03.216
they weren't children;

0:05:03.857,0:05:05.120
they were boys --

0:05:05.755,0:05:07.820
all boys.

0:05:07.844,0:05:10.821
And Caroline, who had invested[br]so much in E.T.,

0:05:10.845,0:05:13.015
well, she wasn't invited to save him,

0:05:13.039,0:05:15.716
and she felt humiliated and spurned.

0:05:16.412,0:05:18.161
So I wrote to Steven Spielberg --

0:05:18.185,0:05:24.353
(Laughter) (Applause)

0:05:24.377,0:05:26.927
and I said, "I don't know[br]if you understand

0:05:26.951,0:05:29.330
the psychological importance[br]of what's happened,

0:05:29.354,0:05:31.854
and are you prepared to pay[br]for the therapy bills?"

0:05:31.878,0:05:33.292
(Laughter)

0:05:33.316,0:05:36.288
Twenty years later, I haven't[br]had a word back from him,

0:05:36.312,0:05:37.750
but I'm still hopeful.

0:05:37.774,0:05:39.384
(Laughter)

0:05:39.408,0:05:41.012
But I thought it was interesting,

0:05:41.036,0:05:43.908
because if you read reviews[br]of what he intended with E.T.,

0:05:43.932,0:05:45.723
he says very specifically,

0:05:45.747,0:05:48.249
"I wanted the world to understand

0:05:48.273,0:05:51.480
that we should love[br]and embrace difference."

0:05:51.504,0:05:56.126
But somehow he didn't include[br]the idea of girls' difference

0:05:56.150,0:05:57.842
in this thinking.

0:05:57.866,0:06:02.176
He thought he was writing a story[br]about all humanity.

0:06:02.200,0:06:04.278
Caroline thought he was marginalizing

0:06:04.302,0:06:05.731
half of humanity.

0:06:05.755,0:06:08.839
He thought he was writing a story[br]about human goodness;

0:06:08.863,0:06:13.249
she thought he was writing[br]a lad's heroic adventure.

0:06:14.028,0:06:15.789
And this is common.

0:06:16.512,0:06:21.633
Men feel they have been given the mantle[br]for universal communication,

0:06:21.657,0:06:23.609
but of course, how could they be?

0:06:23.633,0:06:27.713
They are writing from male experience[br]through male's eyes.

0:06:30.031,0:06:32.249
We have to have a look at this ourselves.

0:06:32.273,0:06:35.949
We have to be prepared to go back[br]through all our books and our films,

0:06:35.973,0:06:37.310
all our favorite things,

0:06:37.334,0:06:40.164
and say, "Actually, this is written[br]by a male artist --

0:06:40.188,0:06:42.176
not an artist.

0:06:42.200,0:06:44.604
We have to see[br]that so many of these stories

0:06:44.628,0:06:46.764
are written through a male perspective.

0:06:46.788,0:06:48.725
Which is fine,

0:06:48.749,0:06:52.247
but then females need to have[br]50 percent of the rights

0:06:52.271,0:06:54.825
for the stage, the film, the novel,

0:06:54.849,0:06:56.638
the place of creativity.

0:06:57.561,0:06:59.360
Let me talk about "Hamlet."

0:06:59.384,0:07:01.077
To be or not to be.

0:07:01.101,0:07:02.315
That is the question.

0:07:02.998,0:07:04.263
But it's not my question.

0:07:04.787,0:07:08.536
My question is: Why was I taught[br]as a young woman

0:07:08.560,0:07:12.917
that this was the quintessential[br]example of human dilemma

0:07:12.941,0:07:14.637
and human experience?

0:07:14.661,0:07:15.997
It's a marvelous story,

0:07:16.021,0:07:21.357
but actually, it's about a young man[br]fearful that he won't be able to make it

0:07:21.381,0:07:24.046
as a powerful figure in a male world

0:07:24.070,0:07:26.785
unless he takes revenge[br]for his father's murder.

0:07:27.552,0:07:32.230
He talks a great deal to us[br]about suicide being an option,

0:07:32.254,0:07:36.923
but the reality is that the person[br]who actually commits suicide, Ophelia,

0:07:36.947,0:07:39.445
after she's been humiliated[br]and abused by him,

0:07:39.469,0:07:42.645
never gets a chance to talk[br]to the audience about her feelings.

0:07:42.669,0:07:45.611
And then when he's finished with Ophelia,[br]he turns on his mum,

0:07:45.635,0:07:48.934
because basically she has the audacity[br]to fall in love with his uncle

0:07:48.958,0:07:50.170
and enjoy sex.

0:07:50.194,0:07:52.231
(Laughter)

0:07:52.255,0:07:54.343
It is a great story,

0:07:54.367,0:07:59.438
but it is a story about male conflict,[br]male dilemma, male struggle.

0:08:00.137,0:08:04.329
But I was told this was the story[br]of human beings,

0:08:04.353,0:08:07.396
despite the fact that it only[br]had two women in it.

0:08:07.420,0:08:09.981
And unless I reeducate myself,

0:08:10.005,0:08:11.730
I am always going to think

0:08:11.754,0:08:15.495
that women's stories[br]matter less than men's.

0:08:16.166,0:08:17.901
A woman could have written "Hamlet,"

0:08:17.925,0:08:20.012
but she would have written it differently,

0:08:20.036,0:08:22.644
and it wouldn't have had[br]global recognition.

0:08:22.668,0:08:24.739
As the writer Margaret Atwood says,

0:08:24.763,0:08:27.249
"When a man writes about doing the dishes,

0:08:27.273,0:08:28.568
it's realism.

0:08:29.379,0:08:31.500
When a woman writes about doing it,

0:08:31.524,0:08:34.039
it's an unfortunate genetic disposition."

0:08:34.063,0:08:35.272
(Laughter)

0:08:35.296,0:08:39.130
Now, this is not just something[br]that belongs to then.

0:08:39.154,0:08:40.954
I mean, when I was a young girl,

0:08:40.978,0:08:43.602
wanting desperately[br]to be a theater director,

0:08:43.626,0:08:46.465
this is what my male lecturer said to me:

0:08:46.489,0:08:50.561
"Well, there are three women[br]directors in Britain," he said, "Jude."

0:08:50.585,0:08:54.692
"There's Joan Knight, who's a lesbian,[br]there's Joan Littlewood, who's retired,

0:08:54.716,0:08:57.496
and there's Buzz Goodbody,[br]who's just killed herself.

0:08:57.520,0:08:59.776
So, which of those three[br]would you like to be?"

0:08:59.800,0:09:00.853
(Laughter)

0:09:00.877,0:09:05.463
Now, leaving aside[br]the disgusting slur on gay women,

0:09:05.487,0:09:08.332
the fact is, he wanted to humiliate me.

0:09:08.356,0:09:12.115
He thought it was silly[br]that I wanted to be a director.

0:09:12.139,0:09:15.110
And I told my friend Marin Alsop,[br]the conductor, and she said,

0:09:15.134,0:09:17.883
"Oh yes, well, my music teacher[br]said exactly the same.

0:09:17.907,0:09:20.077
He said, 'Women don't conduct.'"

0:09:20.704,0:09:23.427
But all these years later,[br]we've made our mark.

0:09:23.451,0:09:25.681
You think, "Well, it'll be different now."

0:09:25.705,0:09:28.199
I'm afraid it's not different now.

0:09:28.223,0:09:31.668
The current head[br]of the Paris Conservatoire

0:09:31.692,0:09:35.119
said recently, "It takes[br]great physical strength

0:09:35.143,0:09:36.624
to conduct a symphony,

0:09:36.648,0:09:38.099
and women are too weak."

0:09:38.123,0:09:39.576
(Laughter)

0:09:39.600,0:09:41.539
The artist George Baselitz said,

0:09:41.563,0:09:43.850
"Well, the fact is women can't paint.

0:09:43.874,0:09:45.720
Well -- they can't paint very well."

0:09:46.194,0:09:48.582
The writer V.S. Naipaul[br]said two years ago,

0:09:48.606,0:09:52.198
"I can read two paragraphs and know[br]immediately if it's written by a woman,

0:09:52.222,0:09:54.923
and I just stop reading,[br]because it's not worthy of me."

0:09:54.947,0:09:56.620
Audience: Whoa!

0:09:57.389,0:09:59.022
And it goes on.

0:10:00.997,0:10:02.985
We have to find a way

0:10:03.009,0:10:05.653
of stopping young girls and women

0:10:05.677,0:10:08.518
feeling not only that[br]their story doesn't matter,

0:10:08.542,0:10:11.752
but they're not allowed[br]to be the storyteller.

0:10:12.661,0:10:16.244
Because once you feel[br]that you can't stand in the central space

0:10:16.268,0:10:19.276
and speak on behalf of the world,

0:10:19.300,0:10:24.375
you will feel that you can offer[br]your goods up to a small, select group.

0:10:24.399,0:10:27.915
You will tend to do smaller work[br]on smaller stages,

0:10:27.939,0:10:29.972
your economic power will be less,

0:10:29.996,0:10:32.468
your reach of audiences will be less,

0:10:32.492,0:10:36.833
and your credit will be less as an artist.

0:10:37.557,0:10:42.812
And we do finally give artists[br]these incredible, prominent spaces

0:10:42.836,0:10:44.000
in the world,

0:10:44.024,0:10:45.763
because they are our storytellers.

0:10:45.787,0:10:48.916
Now, why should it matter to you[br]if you're not an artist?

0:10:48.940,0:10:52.185
Supposing you're an accountant[br]or an entrepreneur or a medic

0:10:52.209,0:10:53.376
or a scientist:

0:10:53.400,0:10:56.002
Should you care about women artists?

0:10:56.026,0:10:58.082
Absolutely, you must,

0:10:58.106,0:11:01.518
because as you can see[br]from the cave paintings,

0:11:01.542,0:11:03.223
all civilizations,

0:11:03.247,0:11:05.451
all of humanity

0:11:06.105,0:11:10.061
have relied upon artists[br]to tell the human story,

0:11:10.085,0:11:13.354
and if the human story[br]is finally told by men,

0:11:13.378,0:11:15.114
take my word for it,

0:11:15.138,0:11:16.855
it will be about men.

0:11:17.671,0:11:20.355
So let's make a change.

0:11:20.379,0:11:22.581
Let's make a change[br]to all our institutions,

0:11:22.605,0:11:23.880
and not just in the West.

0:11:23.904,0:11:28.323
Don't forget -- this message[br]of incapability of women

0:11:28.347,0:11:30.372
to hold creative genius

0:11:30.396,0:11:35.310
is being told to girls and women[br]in Nigeria, in China, in Russia,

0:11:35.334,0:11:36.497
in Indonesia.

0:11:36.521,0:11:39.230
All over the world, girls[br]and women are being told

0:11:39.254,0:11:44.171
that they can't finally hold the idea[br]of creative inspiration.

0:11:45.131,0:11:46.780
And I want to ask you:

0:11:46.804,0:11:48.518
Do you believe that?

0:11:48.542,0:11:52.337
Do you believe that women[br]can be a creative genius?

0:11:53.168,0:11:58.907
(Applause and cheers)

0:11:58.931,0:12:00.592
Well then, please go forward,

0:12:00.616,0:12:02.866
support women artists,

0:12:02.890,0:12:04.364
buy their work,

0:12:04.388,0:12:06.656
insist that their voices are heard,

0:12:06.680,0:12:09.950
find platforms on which[br]their voices will be made.

0:12:10.680,0:12:12.467
And remember this:

0:12:12.491,0:12:15.770
that in a sense, if we're going[br]to get past this moment

0:12:15.794,0:12:19.646
of a world where we know[br]that we are unequal,

0:12:19.670,0:12:22.867
it's artists who have to imagine[br]a different world.

0:12:22.891,0:12:26.501
And I'm calling on all artists,[br]women and men,

0:12:26.525,0:12:29.865
to imagine a gender-equal world.

0:12:30.326,0:12:32.509
Let's paint it. Let's draw it.

0:12:32.533,0:12:34.328
Let's write about it. Let's film it.

0:12:34.352,0:12:36.238
And if we could imagine it,

0:12:36.262,0:12:39.742
then we would have the energy[br]and the stamina

0:12:39.766,0:12:41.255
to work towards it.

0:12:41.802,0:12:43.856
When I see this little girl,

0:12:43.880,0:12:45.920
11,000 years ago,

0:12:45.944,0:12:49.405
I want to know that the little girl now

0:12:49.429,0:12:52.713
can stand there and think[br]she's entitled to her dreams,

0:12:52.737,0:12:55.027
she's entitled to her destiny

0:12:55.051,0:12:59.253
and she's entitled to speak[br]on behalf of the whole world,

0:12:59.277,0:13:01.101
be recognized for it

0:13:01.125,0:13:02.775
and applauded.

0:13:02.799,0:13:03.985
Thank you.

0:13:04.009,0:13:08.790
(Applause)