The virus
The United Nations has issued a stark warning about the pace of progress towards gender equality. According to the UN Secretary-General António Guterres, at the current rate of advancement, it may take close to 300 years to achieve full gender equality worldwide.
Idea:
A visceral experience of the painfully slow progress towards gender equality by developing a symbolic computer "virus" named ‘GENDER INEQUALITY’ that dramatically slows down devices to mirror the 300-year timeline for achieving full gender parity. The objective is to provoke thought and action, challenge users to confront the uncomfortable truth about gender inequality.
Execution:
Develop a safe, removable program that simulates virus behavior without causing harm.
Partner with tech companies, influencers, and gender equality organizations for distribution.
Launch on International Women's Day with a social media campaign featuring influential voices in gender equality.
Implementation:
Voluntary Installation: Users can opt to install the "300-Year Equality Lag Virus" on their devices.
Extreme Performance Impact: The virus reduces processing speed to 1/300th of normal, symbolizing the UN's projection that it will take 300 years to achieve full gender equality at the current rate
Data-Driven Slowdown: Using real-time data from global gender equality reports, the virus adjusts device speed annually.
Provocative Notifications: As users experience lag, they receive thought provoking pop-ups with stark statistics about gender inequality.
Opt-Out Option: Users can remove the virus at any time, prompting reflection on the privilege of opting out of inequality.
Open Source Availability: The virus code will be available on GitHub, encouraging developers to contribute and adapt it for various platforms.
