It's not all black and white...

A couple of weeks ago, I spent a few minutes of my morning in a bewildered state of panic as I scrolled through Instagram. Had I woken up colour blind? Why was I only seeing black and white selfies?

The panic subsided once I noticed the hashtag that accompanied all these posts like a medal of honour: ‘challenge accepted’. In my direct messages, my female followers were jockeying for position with their copy and pasted encouragements. The message marketed the black and white challenge as a way to ‘support, empower and take care of each other’ as women. Receivers were encouraged to send the same message to 50 inspiring women, who shared their own smiling selfies in turn. And so, women around the world were bound by black and white solidarity for a few days.

True to my Aquarius nature, I pride myself on not participating in social media challenges, and I must admit that my initial reaction to this particular challenge was seeped in cynicism. I couldn’t see past the vanity of posting a black and white photo; the challenge seemed superficial and I failed to see how it would empower women.

But 2020 has been a trying year. The coronavirus pandemic has brought to light some glaring issues in South Africa and the world – talk about tip of the iceberg. Since lockdown Level 3 was implemented in June, there was a frightening spike in abuse against women and children. A few weeks ago, President Ramaphosa referred to gender-based violence as the second pandemic in South Africa. Every day, we are bombarded with news about murder and rape. Violence against women has been happening for centuries, yet it is amidst the devastation of coronavirus that South Africa finally woke up.

So, with women empowerment as the battle cry of 2020, I decided to swallow my pride and join the legions of #challengeaccepted.

Thank goodness for my aunt; a regular on Instagram. Not even five minutes after posting my Instagram story, my phone dinged with a notification. I was shocked.

Apparently, #challengeaccepted has made it’s rounds before; in 2016, it was used to aid cancer awareness. 2020’s rendition was widely circulated as a movement to empower women; on the surface, a goodhearted, positive wave on social media. But that wave, powered by empowerment, completely washed over the challenge’s latest origins.

In the months before July 2020, Iranian and Turkish women were faced with an onslaught of gender-based violence. #challengeaccepted began in Iran, where honour killings were rampant, and spread to Turkey. Pinar Gultekin, a Turkish university student, was horrifically murdered in mid-July by a man who allegedly knew her well. Gultekin’s death sparked a chain of protests, where her black and white image was posted on Instagram in solidarity with her and other victims. At least one woman is murdered per day in Turkey, and protestors don’t want their pictures to be next. Women in both Turkey and Iran are fighting against rigid traditions and unyielding governments, in order to gain legal protection against gender-based violence.

This information, the appalling origins of #challengeaccepted, was submerged beneath a sea of uninformed, well-meaning black and white pictures. The selfies that I was seeing were all proudly parading for women empowerment, yet none were aware of the massacre that Turkish women were confronting. In their enthusiasm to promote equality, the myriad stories and posts were overwhelming the voices of Turkish and Iranian women. I don’t know about you, but I was stunned by the ability of social media to hijack a ‘challenge’ and it’s true meaning. So many of my friends, myself included, believed those black and white pictures to be a simple gesture of solidarity while it was so much more. As a female in a country where gender-based violence is a pandemic, I believe the origins of #challengeaccepted to be even more important.

This experience serves as a poignant reminder to always dig underneath the surface, no matter how well-intentioned the challenge. Sure, post your black and white picture, but make sure that you follow through. Educate yourself on the story behind the story, then educate others.