Em Rusciano shared a powerful message about the Sydney Women’s March, which she attended on Saturday, during her first show in 2Day FM’s breakfast slot.
Rusciano and her co-host Harley Breen, who have replaced Rove McManus and Sam Frost, spoke to Tracey Spicer about her experience emceeing the event.
When Rusciano asked Spicer whether she felt nervous about the gig, Spicer admitted she was “terrified”, as many of the second wave feminists who had marched in Hyde Park during the 1960s, joined the younger generations who were marching on Saturday.
“We were standing on the shoulders of giants,” Spicer said.
“We were really standing on the shoulders of the suffragettes who got us the vote at the turn of the last century,” she added.
Spicer spoke about the reasons women, men and children marched on Saturday, and why we care so much about what's happening in America right now.
"A lot of these policies are anti-women and anti-minority, so even though we've got abortion rights in most states we can see those being rolled back, we can see equal opportunity policies being rolled back here. So it frightens a lot of us, the effect of what's happening in America will happen in Australia."
Spicer said that about a third of the people attending the march were male and Rusciano described how she saw a lot of fathers marching with their daughters.
Breen said that he saw feminism as an "us with them" thing rather than an "us versus them".
“As a feminist…I think the attitude that it’s about us against them (men) needs to change because we can’t make the changes without men saying I care about my mum, and my sister and my daughter," Rusciano added.
Rusciano ended the conversation with a rallying cry of support for Spicer and all women who are standing up for women's rights.
Em Rusciano Is A Try Hard on No Filter.
“It’s hard to be a woman in the Australian media and stick your neck out and your head up, because they come for you. When majorities and people of privilege get threatened they come after you, so you keep going, you keep fighting the good fight my lady."
“Equality is good for everybody. It’s not just a women’s issue but a human rights issue," Spicer added.
