Melinda Gates
What Melinda French Gates started in the science lab now extends to the comedic stage. “Equality Can’t Wait,” a new campaign launched by philanthropist and Ursuline alumna Gates draws attention to gender equality by making fun of it.
A video depicts American comedians joking about the fact that, at current rates of change as measured by the World Economic Forum, U.S. women won’t gain equality with men for another 208 years.
Gates’ campaign calls on stand-up comics to apply the power of their humor to gender equality issue, recording short videos and tweeting them on the hashtag #EqualityCantWait.
“I think comedians can sometimes speak the truth to society about the things that are truly going on and that we don’t want to face,” Gates told The Hollywood Reporter. “By bringing humor they…open people’s eyes, but they also hit you squarely between the eyes.”
