Q&A: Su-Mei Thompson on her fight for gender equality
Hotshot corporate lawyer turned women’s equality advocate and head of The Women’s Foundation Su-Mei Thompson tells the South China Morning Post why she believes there is much work still to be done to close the gender gap
Before joining The Women’s Foundation as its chief executive, Su-Mei Thompson was a corporate lawyer for some of the biggest companies in the world.
But the Cambridge and Oxford University law graduate said she experienced a shift in how she was being treated professionally after she became a mother. She began noticing that women who try to get back on the career ladder after taking a break, face a multitude of hurdles.
It’s these types of stereotypes and challenges Thompson wanted to combat through her role with the foundation.
Her latest initiative in the fight for gender equality is the foundation’s campaign, She Objects. It focuses on how women are portrayed in the media and advertising in Hong Kong, and the impacts of that.
Of particular concern is the negative impact of unrealistic images of women in advertising and how these can lead to eating disorders, self-esteem problems and sexual harassment. A centrepiece of the campaign is the She Objects documentary. The film’s trailer was previewed at the Cannes Film Festival, where Thompson took part in a panel discussion.
Thompson is confident the work of the foundation and the She Objects campaign will help bring about greater gender equality.