The Idea Co, a for-impact organisation co-founded by community builder and TEDxSingapore’s lead curator, Vivian Lim, announced the launch of Generally Speaking — a deck of statement cards aimed at facilitating thought-provoking conversations around gender issues. Generally Speaking is The Idea Co’s inaugural project under GEN that champions equality and inclusivity within communities.
Curated and consolidated through meaningful conversations facilitated by Vivian and her team since 2017, Generally Speaking has 40 statement cards containing phrases like – ‘I associate colours and/or fashion items with gender’, ‘I often associate life skills with gender’ and ‘I am conscious about gender stereotypes, and I try to live up to it’. The players need to use an action card that allows them to engage with the statement by debating, roleplaying and sharing their experiences with other players, or even attempting to apply a generational perspective.
“Gender equality is a fundamental human right, but achieving it requires genuine understanding, a will to change and ensure an open and healthy discourse,” said Vivian Lim, Co-founder of The Idea Co. “Through Generally Speaking, we want to enhance self-awareness and reflection amongst players, so they begin an inward journey to challenge gender stereotypes, course correct and engage with wider communities further.”
Despite the pandemic’s role in deepening gender inequality1, a 2022 global study found that nearly 25% Singaporeans do not believe that gender inequality exists.2 The card game aims to tackle such notions with empathy and curiosity-driven conversations across corporate settings, public and private schools, public libraries, universities, etc. These dialogues are important to encourage mutual understanding and respect, and ultimately engender positive change, which is a goal that GEN and The Idea Co aim to pursue through projects like Generally Speaking.
“We designed Generally Speaking as a fun way to get the ball rolling on important conversations on gender issues beyond one’s echo chambers, and hope that it will be an effective means to foster empathy and understanding among players and – by extension – communities,” said Vivian.
“Generally Speaking allows us to skip the niceties and ease into developing deeper conversations with company, particularly with regards to a topic that requires discourse now more than ever,” said Haikal Afiq, student at the Nanyang Technological University, who attended the launch event on 9 July 2022.
GEN was founded with the mission of closing gaps in gender, generation and general perspectives – with an Asian focus. Over the years, it has worked alongside diverse sector partners to create sustainable impact and further the diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) agenda through initiatives such as Women in Tech 2018, Singapore Rediscovered 2019, #PauseToCare 2021 and more. Generally Speaking is the first of other upcoming new initiatives from The Idea Co and GEN focused on social inclusion, with details to be announced at a later date.
While the Generally Speaking card game is currently limited for partnering organisations running gender equality-related initiatives, The Idea Co plans to make it available for wider audiences in the near future. To learn more about Generally Speaking or explore collaborations with GEN and The Idea Co, please reach out to [email protected] or check their Instagram!
Thanks for your continued love and appreciation for our media. We love to collaborate with brands and we love to get feedback from our readers. Did you check our platform “SocialMediaMomSG” for mompreneurs, local brands and ladies?
Drop a line on [email protected] / [email protected] or Click here to get in touch with us. Happy to connect!