“Ok Ladies let’s get in formation!”
In case you didn’t know already, March is Women’s History Month, and today is International Women’s Day. Every year on March 8th, countries around the world gather to celebrate the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women globally, and also to continue to advocate for women’s rights. Women’s Day was first observed on March 19, 1911, in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland, however, no one government or entity can take credit for this days’ inception. The date was then moved to March 8th in 1913. The United Nations celebrated International Women’s day for the first time in 1975, and introduced an annual theme in 1996. This year’s theme is “Choose to Challenge”, and you can participate by striking the “Choose to Challenge Pose” (a raised hand), and posting it on social media with the hashtag #ChoosetoChallange”.
I don’t know about you, but for me, talk is cheap, so here are some other ways you can support women today, and every day:
Pay us equally: “In 2018, a woman working full time earned 81.6 cents for every dollar a man working full time earned on average. Additionally, women’s median annual earnings were $9,766 less than men’s, according to the most recent available data from the US Census Bureau.”
“The Fortune article also noted that many women on the front lines of the coronavirus outbreak, such as nurses helping treat patients with the coronavirus or store workers keeping groceries and goods stocked, make less than men in the same occupation on average.”
“While progress has been made toward pay parity between the sexes, the Institute for Women’s Policy Research estimates that it will not be reached until 2059.” In case you weren’t counting, it’ll be 38 more years until this gap is closed. Respectfully, that’s ridiculous.
Put us in Leadership Positions: “Women are just 5 percent of Fortune 500 CEOs—down from a record high of 6 percent in 2017.”
Listen to us when it comes to our health: Women usually have longer Emergency Room wait times, and are more likely to be given less effective pain killers than men. If we are in pain, we aren’t faking it. Listen to us.
This international Women’s Day, and every day, be mindful of the biases that you may have against women, and do something that will benefit the women in your life. What other ways can we help to close the women’s equality gap? I’d love to know in the comments.
Candace Green is a Birmingham, Alabama transplant by way of Washington DC. She enjoys reading, writing, cooking and eating amazing food, and Marvel movies. She is an author and blogger. You can follow her on IG: c_dog93.
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