MEET OUR FOUNDERS
Rochelle “Rocky” Jacobs shares stories about feminism, teasing, and life-long dreaming
What first inspired you to work on Unashamed?
In high school, I was teased (mostly playfully) for being a feminist — although I wouldn’t have called myself one then. I was called one by others because I was stubborn and independent and more than a little angry. By the time I came to university, a lot of that anger had left me, somehow.
Until I started talking to the womxn around me; the stories I heard, the reactions I saw to conversations about rape and assault, all these things began eating at me.
One day, in an English tutorial, my (male) tutor told our class that “everyone should be a feminist”. The statement was simple and he gave no explanation or elaboration but it was the first time that someone had used the word without being dismissive, derogatory, or demeaning. The incident coincided with a Political Science module on ideologies and it was there that I began learning about what feminism actually is, and not just the angry image I had of it in my head. I was immediately convinced.
When these incidents were combined with wine and a lengthy conversation with my friends about rape and sexual assault, the original idea for Unashamed was born. Back then, it was just a side project aimed at educating a few people. Then it became a side project aimed at educating a lot of people.
And then, somehow, it became what it is today. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.
What has been most challenging about working on Unashamed for you?
By far the most difficult part of this work is the fact that, when it seems like everything is getting worse, then you know you’re doing your job right. Part of the motivation behind Unashamed is a belief that more people speaking up and speaking out about sexual assault will result in more people reporting it and (we hope) that more reports will lead to more convictions and more convictions will lead to less assault. There’s no reason to believe that the actual number of assaults have increased over the last few years but the number of reports — both formally and informally — have been steadily increasing. That’s often a heartbreaking experience but it also means that we’re doing something right.
Culture doesn’t change overnight. And Unashamed is fighting against Rape Culture and a culture of patriarchy.
I don’t know if we’ll see the change we want in our life times. So this job is about seeing the small wins, the minor changes, the subtle shifts. It’s about recognizing that a “win” doesn’t always look or feel triumphant and it’s about deciding to carry on working anyway.
What would you tell young womxn about their place in the world?
Think bigger. Ask for more. You are enough and you are never too much.
What we’ve been taught to be, what we’ve been taught to expect, to want, to desire, to fight for… they’re all minuscule compared to what we deserve and what we can achieve. We’ve been taught to fight for consensual sex; we deserve good sex. We’ve been taught to fight for equal pay; we deserve equal opportunities. We’ve been taught to fight to be more like men — to dress like men, to do “men’s” work, to be treated more like men are treated. No. We deserve to have every race, gender, sexuality, every individual, treated with dignity, equality and respect because of who they are.
You are a warrior, not because you can make it in a man’s world. You are a warrior because you can do anything you want to because of precisely who you are. You are a warrior — now fight.
