This document discusses changing gender roles and the empowerment of women globally. It argues that changing the role of women is one of the few clear ideas of our time. While stereotypes about women in leadership still exist, the document asserts that no one can ban stereotypes but can work to decrease prejudice and promote education to reduce the power of stereotypical thinking over time. The empowerment of women through increased rights and freedoms over the past century represents an ongoing process of irreversible change.

1. Catch XX*
„Ideas? Who cares?! – I do!“
Gordana Čomić
* XX = chromosomes

2. XX* revolution
Changing the role of
women as (maybe) the
only clear idea of our
time
* XX = chromosomes, again 

3. Where are the winds of change?

4. Corporative democracy?
• No strong leaders („they are all the same“)
• No strong rules („informal decision making“)
• Sharing facts without context (pointless)
• No clear ideas („fears and concerns, where is
the hope, vision, solutions?“)
• No real global movements in post
globalization times, EXCEPT: changing the role
of women, everywhere

5. Brief story about my grandma & me
• We are XX species who shared XX century, and
I am the first XX generation with – women
rights
• She couldn`t, I can: school, vote, property,
travel alone, marry or not, give birth or not,
freedom of choice and freedom of voice
• Started in Europe and USA, spred over the
world through 100 years, far from „game
over“

6. What else has changed?
• Technology (of war & peace, some people call it
„progress“)
• Rules of slavery and colonization (but also terrorism as
the „garbage of globalizaton, inequality)
• Rules of communication (internet, „access matters“)
• Market rules, money rules (but who are the rulers, who
are „rule makers“ and who are „rule takers“ ?)
• Socialism and comunism that we used to know as an
idea has gone (more or less)
• Social model for XY and XX species due to „catch XX“
everlasting change

7. Funny theory of 30% of everything
• In every society, in every organization, there
are 30% of people willing to ACCEPT change
• From those 30% ready to accept, there are
30% willing to WORK for changes,
revolutionary or evolutionary
• From those 30% ready to work, there are 10%
ready to LEAD

8. Change in funny numbers
• If there are 8 000 000 people, 2 400 000 are
ready to ACCEPT changes, 720 000 are ready to
WORK and 72 000 to LEAD
• Among those ready to lead, there must be a will
for changing themselves and than we again have
30% those who are ready to ACCEPT it and that is
21 600, 30% of those ready to WORK and that is
6480, and 10% ready to LEAD is 648
• So, ideas and leadership depends on those 648
people, and 216 should be XX, 432 are XY

9. Stereotypes as „Zeitgeist“
• Women don’t like, don’t know, don’t need, don’t “feel”
comfortable, don’t have any use of – The Politics
• Women don’t want other women in politics
• Women know that politics will make them “less”
feminine
• Women are not “made” for politics, not capable to
cope with it
• Women can hardly manage politics and family business
• There is, always, at least one bad example for a woman
in politics (for a man, there are so many, but unspoken)

10. Well, I have a breaking news
for all of you:

11. XX & XY social behavior
• NO ONE CAN ban, erase or forbid stereotypes
that people do have, through which people think,
which people adopt in the culture they are raised
• BUT, EVERYONE CAN ban & forbid behavior based
on prejudice, by the law, criminal or law of any
kind
• BUT, EVERYONE CAN educate, campaign, teach,
show, learn how to (as slowly as it goes) decrease
the power of “stereotype thinking”

12. Origin of stereotype
• Easy and inevitable to handle, think and use
• Product of social model
• Consequence of collective memory
• Common way among humans to “negatively
define someone else, so that we can look better”
• “Verum factum” – truth is what we made the
truth to be (G.Vico)
• Perception is believing, so – it is the truth, as
well, no matter how far from facts

13. Peel & scrape
• Social models and stereotypes are like onion –
can make you cry, but also enables you to peel
and scrape each uncomfortable layer (for XX and
XY models, equally), and it is neverending process
AND THAT IS WHAT WE WERE BEING DOING ALL
THE TIME, THAT IS THE „CATCH XX“ OF
IRREVERSIBLE PROCESS OF CHANGE, THAT IS IDEA
THAT IS STILL FRESH AND STRONG LIKE IT USED TO
BE

14. XX smiley 
XY smiley 