Today is International Women’s Day. It comes once a year but is worked on every day in some women’s lives. March 8th is the day where women sport purple ribbons to show respect, love and gratitude to each other for fighting for equality and for enhancing economic security for women and their families globally. It is also a day to recognize that continued effort is necessary for security (personal and economic) to one day be a reality for women everywhere.
It’s a day that is underreported but is imperative to acknowledge. We all have mothers, sisters, nieces, aunts, cousins, colleagues or friends that are female, so we all have to have something to do with bringing about equality for women.
I tried to write down a list of the women who have inspired me for one reason or other and it became increasingly hard because of how many incredible women I have admired from afar or have had in my life to encourage the person that I am.
I do know, from the lessons I’ve learned from them that there is no other time that I would rather live for the opportunities I have available to me, for the people that have made where I am easier, for the luxuries I enjoy and the life that I live. For every woman and man who have helped get us here – thank you.
It’s never attractive to call yourself a feminist but today, I’m quite proudly one because I can work if I want to, I can be an at home mum if finances permit and again, if I want to. I can have children or choose not to. I can wear pants (even though I prefer skirts), but I can also figuratively wear the pants in the office, in relationships, in any situation I see fit.
Here are the first few that sprang to mind (I'm sure I've missed about a billion others)
1. Oprah Winfrey -
She doesn't really need an explanation. You know I love her. You know I want to be her. A large bulk of women do. I love a rags to riches story and after an incredibly tumultuous and traumatic childhood, Oprah rose above her situation to make Forbes lists, inspire good in others, build a school for disadvantaged girls in Africa
2. Somaly Mam -
I fell in love with this woman when I read her memoir "The Road of Lost Innocence." It's the true story of a Cambodian heroine (Somaly) who was sold into prostitution at the age of 12, survived a lifetime of trauma and escaped to co-found AFESIP to combat the sexual trafficking of young girls and women. Her organisation has rescued, rehabilitated and reintegrated over 4000 women since its inception in 1996. She's amazing and the book is one of the most moving memoir's I've ever read. Makes you want to fly to Cambodia and save everyone.
3. Ariana Huffington
Founder of the Huffington Post - Another Media Mogul that I'd love to emulate. In 2009 she was named #12 on the Forbes Most Influential Women in Media List (another dream of mine). She manages to be a mum and a media big-wig all at once. She seems so classy and sophisticated and I'd love to meet her and run a website as successful and as intelligent as The Huffington Post.
4. Mother Teresa
She too needs no explanation or introduction. If everyone was as virtuous, as selfless, as unassuming as Mother Theresa, we would have no war - just love. She founded the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta.She ministered to the poor, sick, orphaned and dying. At the time of her death she had 610 missions in 123 countries including hospices and homes for people with HIV/AIDS, leprosy and tuberculosis, soup kitchens, children's and family counselling programmes, orphanages and schools. She received numerous awards including the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979. One of my most favourite life lessons come from this quote: "I have found the paradox, that if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love."
I can dream beyond the borders of my house, desk or office. I can get out of bed and not have to make it. I can care and be cared for. I can nurture and I can be nurtured. I can wear heels or flats and stand just as tall in both.
I can speak or keep silent (and both will be my choice). I can scream or I can whisper. I can giggle or I can boisterously laugh.
I can dream and I can be and nobody can stop me on the way.
To my grandmother and mum – you have overcome obstacles and faced them more courageously than can be written about. You are women that have the softest hearts but the strongest conviction. You are resilient yet you are gentle, you are persistent yet you are patient, you are strong yet you are sweet. You are faithful. You are loving. You are inspiring and you are perfect. I know no love more unconditional. I know no love more serving. I know no love more selfless. If every woman was modeled on the women you are, women would be unstoppable. If I am anything, it is because you are everything.
To my sister – you are a wealth of wisdom. You have played mum from my birth and even when it was annoying to have me tag along to every outing, traipsing close behind you wherever you went – there is no better shadow for me to have been protected in. Your love has always enveloped my heart. You taught me every lesson before I cared to know it but it’s because of that foreknowledge that you armed me with, that I became as strong as I am, as cautious of my surroundings and became as fearless in my dreams. My biggest support, my loudest cheer, my closest friend – there is no greater blessing than the one that comes in a sister.
To my friends and extended family – you are amazing! You all inspire goodness in me. You encourage my dreams, you boost my ego, you make me laugh, you restore my faith in humanity, you heal my broken heart, you lift me when I am miserable. You are my joy and my life. Every day is worth living with you guys in it. You see good in everything. You are honest in your words and in your love. You teach me the value of relationships, the secret to the success of them and the power of prayer. You are all my miracles.
To my boss, who took a chance on me and believed in my success; Thank YOU! You are a woman who encourages dreams and lives them. You are someone who nurtures success, has broken the glass ceiling and proven the power of persistence. I will always be grateful for the support you give women in this industry. I will never stop learning and re-teaching your wisdoms and when I have achieved all I have hoped I will remember it was you who helped me get there (and now it’s in writing so you can hold me to it).
I could go on forever about the women in my life but here is a gallery of women in the world who also inspire me and work for the improved welfare of women around the world. My hat goes off to these women (in no particular order).
Here are the first few that sprang to mind (I'm sure I've missed about a billion others)
1. Oprah Winfrey -
She doesn't really need an explanation. You know I love her. You know I want to be her. A large bulk of women do. I love a rags to riches story and after an incredibly tumultuous and traumatic childhood, Oprah rose above her situation to make Forbes lists, inspire good in others, build a school for disadvantaged girls in Africa
2. Somaly Mam -
I fell in love with this woman when I read her memoir "The Road of Lost Innocence." It's the true story of a Cambodian heroine (Somaly) who was sold into prostitution at the age of 12, survived a lifetime of trauma and escaped to co-found AFESIP to combat the sexual trafficking of young girls and women. Her organisation has rescued, rehabilitated and reintegrated over 4000 women since its inception in 1996. She's amazing and the book is one of the most moving memoir's I've ever read. Makes you want to fly to Cambodia and save everyone.
3. Ariana Huffington
Founder of the Huffington Post - Another Media Mogul that I'd love to emulate. In 2009 she was named #12 on the Forbes Most Influential Women in Media List (another dream of mine). She manages to be a mum and a media big-wig all at once. She seems so classy and sophisticated and I'd love to meet her and run a website as successful and as intelligent as The Huffington Post.
4. Mother Teresa
She too needs no explanation or introduction. If everyone was as virtuous, as selfless, as unassuming as Mother Theresa, we would have no war - just love. She founded the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta.She ministered to the poor, sick, orphaned and dying. At the time of her death she had 610 missions in 123 countries including hospices and homes for people with HIV/AIDS, leprosy and tuberculosis, soup kitchens, children's and family counselling programmes, orphanages and schools. She received numerous awards including the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979. One of my most favourite life lessons come from this quote: "I have found the paradox, that if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love."
5. Margaret Thatcher
The longest serving British Prime Minister in the 20th Century and the only woman to have held the post. On the 4th of May in 1979 she is remembered as paraphrasing the words of St.Francis which read: "Where there is discord, may we bring harmony. Where there is error, may we bring truth. Where there is doubt, may we bring faith. And where there is despair, may we bring hope." To her supporters, Margaret Thatcher is still revered. Her followers see a leader who restored Britain's economy, curbed the trade unions, and re-established the nation as a world power. I don't agree with all of her policies but love that she was a woman that had the power to make them.
6. Germaine Greer
One of the most vocal and active feminists of the 20th Century. She is an Australian writer, academic, journalist and a reason why so many of us have the freedoms we do. She fights for female liberation as a distinctly different thing from women's equality. Her battle has been about positively embracing difference in gender to help women delineate their own role, values and priorities in society.
7. Dr Fiona Wood
Creator of spray-on skin for burns victims, named Australian of the Year in 2005. Amazing woman, amazing surgeon, enviable brain.
8. Angelina Jolie
She was a bit crazy to begin with but she is someone that has used her wealth and fame for good. She is a UN Ambassador, speaks fluently and learnedly on the Refugees in Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Cambodia. Has six children, is a great actress, has countlessly been labelled the most beautiful woman in the world, loved her mum, adores her husband, worships her kids and has won a stack of humanitarian awards....and rocks an Oscars frock even with an awkwardly protruding leg.
9. Coco Chanel
Wish I wasn't this superficial - but this is another amazing rags to riches tale. She was an orphan who never accepted her poverty as her fate. She created an empire that is classic, sophisticated and hugely influential on 20th century fashion and she makes women the world over feel and look fabulous (true at least for all who can afford it). She proved through her story that class and sophistication do not come from wealth. She had it long before her label.
10. Rosa Parks
One woman who inspired one of the most powerful and peaceful protests in the civil rights movement in the US in 1955. Simply by refusing to get up from her seat on the bus, she helped spark the Montgomery Bus Boycott and stood up for civil rights of the black community. She is labelled "the mother of the freedom movement," and "the first lady of civil rights." She would have made an awesome nanna! Many people owe their freedom to her resistance. So fierce. So fabulous!
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