hey, hello, hi!
International Women’s Day (IWD) is on Monday 8th March and the theme for 2021 is #ChooseToChallenge
Now as an engineer, and someone who generally enjoys a good debate, I love challenging people. Their ideas. Their opinions. I don’t like taking anything at face value and always feel like I need extra information when forming an opinion on something. So this years theme really resonates with me.
Obviously this is Girls Who…’s first IWD and I want to celebrate the occasion with a blog post and a whole page of resources I’ve collated from other sources, aimed at teachers/youth leaders/anyone who looks after or educates other people. You can find all the activities here! Most of these resources are not IWD specific and can be used throughout the entire year to support gender inequality education. The resources page will be a full-time feature and I’ll continue to add to it when I come across new things that I think will be helpful!
I want to use this blog post to talk about IWD; what it is and why it means so much to women across the globe. I also want to address that IWD does bring some, how do I say this politely… interesting people out of the woodwork. I’m sure many of us will have seen comments such as “when’s international men’s day” or “why do we even need IWD”. I wanted to use this blog post to equip you all with the knowledge and confidence to address and confront these interesting people and their interesting views. (Of course, only if you feel comfortable doing so!)
I also wanted to include a section for men on how they can help support women, specifically on IWD but also, every day after that. Men will play an incredibly important part in how change is going to come in the future.
What is IWD?
IWD is a global event used to celebrate women’s achievements; raise awareness about women’s equality; campaign for change regarding gender inequality as well as fundraising for female-focused charities
When did IWD start?
The first NWD was declared by the Socialist Party of America in 1909. It started being celebrated in parts of Europe from 1911. And didn’t reach the UK properly until 1914.
Ok, so let’s address the interesting views some people have.
“When is International Men’s Day”?
Ok so let’s talk about the infamous international men’s day comment. Firstly if you want a short, sweet answer then it’s actually the 19th November. It is incredible that such information passes by when you haven’t had to fight for your place in society. International Men’s Day is actually a brilliant day for supporting men; who are statistically more likely to commit suicide, more likely to suffer mental health problems as well as supporting men who are subject to domestic violence.
“Why do we need IWD when we already have other days (e.g Mother’s Day)?” “Aren’t women celebrated enough?”
While IWD is about celebrating the women in our lives, the wider community, and those that benefit our greater world it is also an integral day to recognise and campaign for the much-needed change we still need to see. Of course, if we look back to 1909, a lot of change has occurred, but when there are still so many social, political, cultural and economic differences between men and women, there is always room for more change. Additionally, not every woman is celebrated or even valued. While female genital mutilation (FGM) alone still occurs, women can not be classed as equal to men.
“Normal women don’t care about IWD”.
This is actually a statement I’ve seen A LOT of from “progressive” feminists who have decided to put IWD into a “middle class, snobby” box and label it boring. Now, I can appreciate that companies taking hold of the day for marketing value begins to commercialise the day and take away from its true meaning. I can also understand that devoting one day to something suggests that we can wake up on the 9th March and forget everything we read/tweeted/campaigned for the previous day. But the bottom line is, if we can create a buzz of conversation for even just ONE DAY of the year, it doesn’t take a genius to tell you that one is better than none.
How Can Men Help Women in STEM?
First things first (and I know some of you struggle with this) but LISTEN. Don’t pretend you know and understand the struggles women face on a daily basis – you don’t need to. Just listen.
Additionally, if you’re in a position where you can facilitate getting more female representation into meetings/events/conferences, then please, use your power. If you aren’t in that position then contact people who are. We need you to start asking questions. Ask your management what their gender balance is? What their plans to recruit more females in technical positions are?
Ultimately, if a woman complains about the lack of female representation then she’s a feminist and is most likely ignored (with an eye roll and a sarcastic comment), if a man complains about it, he’s a hero. For once I’m asking you to be the hero.
This blog post has been quite heavy but contains some really important information that everyone can use to campaign for a more equal, fairer world. Thank you for making it this far and if you can, in support of IWD, please wear purple, green or white clothing on Monday 8th March.
All my love, Meg x
Girls Who STEM 