Today (March 8) marks the arrival of International Women's Day, an international date where we celebrate women’s achievements in the economic, political, and social arenas. It’s a chance to hurrah at the progress we’ve made but also discuss and reflect on the steps still needed to achieve gender parity.
"The most important thing one woman can do for another is expand her sense of actual possibilities." - Adrienne Cecile Rich
Over the past year we have had a number of success stories:
For the first time, a woman was named vice-president of the United States. In Scotland, the parliament voted unanimously in favour of the Period Products bill, making Scotland the first country to allow free and universal access to menstrual products – including tampons and pads – in public buildings including schools and universities. In Afghanistan a new law was signed that, for the first time, includes mothers’ names on their children’s birth certificates and identification cards. It marked a major victory (#WhereIsMyName) towards making it easier for women to get education, healthcare and other documents for their children. As the world faced the COVID-19 crisis we saw some of the most successful leadership come from women - data backs this up. In Canada, Dr. Bonnie Henry became a household name.
At Covergalls we believe it’s important to celebrate global stories like those above as well as all the women making change happen in our daily lives. It’s part of our continuing commitment to empower women everywhere.
In line with this idea is the campaign theme for International Women's Day 2021: 'Choose To Challenge.’
“A challenged world is an alert world. And from challenge comes change. So let's all #ChooseToChallenge” - International Women’s Day community
To celebrate #ChooseToChallenge, Covergalls is highlighting the amazing achievements made by the women we follow, support and admire on our social pages. We also reflected on some ways you can celebrate this year from home below.
"There is no limit to what we, as women, can accomplish." - Michelle Obama
Celebrating International Women’s Day At Home
The beauty of the internet is that there is so much you can do to celebrate International Women's Day even from home. Below are five examples:
- Support some of the local, women-owned businesses in your community. There are so many cool projects happening right now in your own backyard! For some examples check out the Toronto Star, who wrote about a few of the inspiring female Canadian entrepreneurs out there.
- If you are in a position to do so, support or donate to nonprofits / organizations that provide help to those women who are economically or socially disadvantaged. There are many organizations doing good work. To name a few: Rise Women's Legal Centre, 60 million girls, After Breast Cancer, Anduhyaun Inc., and more.
- Take action! Today is a great day where you will see the promotion, encouragement and celebration of women. Join in. Who can you support in your family, at work and/or in your friend group? Who do you know is being a leader and challenging the status quo?
- Attend an event. In addition to supporting your favourite women, why not attend one of the many cool events going on today? For example, streaming from 10 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. is the United Nations' Observance of International Women’s Day 2021. The theme for their event is “Women in leadership: Achieving an equal future in a COVID-19 world, on the way to the Generation Equality Forum.” Register here!
- Reflect. Long and busy days can mean that the year flies away from us in no time. Case and point: it’s already March 2021! Take a moment today to stop and think about how you are contributing to making gender equity happen in your daily actions. What would you #ChooseToChallenge to help make change happen?
"The story of women's struggle for equality belongs to no single feminist, nor to any one organization, but to the collective efforts of all who care about human rights." - Gloria Steinem
Overall we want to take this time to say a big thank you: Thank you to all the incredible women who make up our team, thank you to the allies and women that continue to support one another, thank you to our sisters and mothers, thank you all who #ChooseToChallenge.
Happy International Women's Day, from our team to yours!