International Women’s Day, on 8th March is a day allocated to mark the achievements of women – social, economic and political, and to making a call to encourage the acceleration of women’s equality.
#ChooseToChallenge is this year’s theme for International Women’s Day.
On this particular Women’s day I would like to us to identify our heroes, thank those who have worked without true recognition and ensure that we strive for true and full equality.
To say that this last year has been a challenge would be the understatement of the Century! Yet throughout this challenging year we have heard, seen and experienced the resilience of the human spirit.
Whilst we are all trying to survive, it can be so easy to overlook those who have achieved against all odds; especially the women, who have quietly got on with the stuff of superheroes during this pandemic.
However, we should remember all the young people that make up part of the disheartening static: the number of young people in employment has fallen by 284,000, a 7.5% fall.
We need to showcase role models for our young women so that collectively we can reduce this statistic. Now more than ever it is important to honour the women who have achieved as we celebrate International Women’s Day.
During the last year we have seen numerous examples of achievements that we should be celebrating – Eleanor Noone is a prime example. She is an Irish conductor and composer, best known for her award-winning work on video game music. She has conducted many national orchestras. Most importantly, she was the first woman to conduct at the Oscars on 9 February 2020, leading the orchestra in excerpts from the five nominated film scores.
We should ensure that achievements like this are celebrated and that young women are given visibility of what is possible for them.
This special day gives us the opportunity to thank all the parents that are currently homeschooling children of all ages, and the teachers that are doing virtual lessons. This has been a real challenge, because after homeschooling, they have had to be a daughter, brother, wife, husband, sister, friend, cook, housekeeper. All of this is a real achievement, which will never be officially recognised, but our children will remember for the rest of their lives how their Moms and Dads ensured that their education was not left in limbo. I can’t begin to imagine how tough it must be for single mothers!
This day also gives us the opportunity to thank the women working in caring roles and in the NHS front line for the dedication that they have shown during this pandemic.
Women from a younger generation may feel that ‘all the battles have been won’, but those who have lived through the patriarchy know only too well its ingrained longevity. With greater equality in legislative rights, more women in the boardroom, and an increased critical mass of women’s visibility as impressive role models in every aspect of life, one could think that women have gained true equality. The unfortunate fact is that wome are still not paid equally to that of their male counterparts, women still are not present in
equal numbers in business or politics, and globally women’s education, health and the violence against them is worse than that of men. However, great improvements have been made. We do have female astronauts and prime ministers, school girls in the UK are welcomed into university, women can work and have a family, women have real choices.
Let us strive to ensure that all young girls are made aware of and make the most of these opportunities and let us all #ChooseToChallenge the status quo.