Lordy Lorde-y
Willow Blooms #052 Yes, it's another IWD post!
March 8th is International Women’s Day. I looked up the origins of this day, and how it advertises itself. One of the phrases I found was that it is a day dedicated to celebrating (the historical, cultural, and political achievements of) women.
At first glance this sounds brilliant- I’m in for that. There are so many amazing and inspiring women in the news every day, and in our communities, who we see achieving great things. I wholeheartedly applaud them. But I noticed shortly after reading this, that a sinking feeling came over my body.
I’ve bracketed a section of the quote, because this is the bit responsible for my heart sink. The realisation that I do not have historical, cultural, and political achievements of any note. Does this mean International Women’s Day is not a celebration of me and ordinary women like me too? Whilst it’s important to acknowledge the ground-breaking achievements of women, especially where the playing field has not always been (and often continues not to be) level, I’m hopeful that we can celebrate women, without having to tie it to performative expectations. Celebrating women based on their achievements seems what are Audre Lorde would refer to as still using ‘the tools of a racist patriarchy’ to judge ourselves (speech in 1979).
So, what if we broadened this out?
Let’s celebrate women, no matter how great we consider their historical, cultural, political achievements to be!
Audre Lorde © Getty
Each year there is a theme to IWD. An article posted in December on UN Women’s website said the theme was to be ‘For ALL women and girls: Rights. Equality. Empowerment’. This sounds good.
The headline is March Forward, with a focus on creating change and a gender equality.
The roots of this day began in the suffragist movement, and the first official day to mark the efforts to achieve gender equality came in 1911. This makes 2025 the 124th International Women’s Day
(Note- Others such as Carla Denyer, Green Party Co-Leader, say we should use the word equity, acknowledging that it’s not about giving everyone the same, but fairness reflecting our differences, and gender-related differences not being a barrier- see this link).
An International Women’s Conference was organized in August 1910 by Clara Zetkin, a German suffragist and leader in the Women’s Office. Zetkin proposed a special Women’s Day to be organized annually and International Women’s Day was honored the following year in Austria, Denmark, Germany, and Switzerland, with more than one million attending the rallies. On August 18, 1920, the 19th Amendment was ratified and white women were granted the right to vote in the U.S.
In 1975, the United Nations officially adopted International Women's Day.
INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY - March 8, 2025 - National Today
I believe today was the day that The Independent newspaper announced Gisele Pelicot to be the winner of their Most Influential woman of 2025 award.
Her statement, shared via her lawyer reads;
“Gisele is honoured and wishes to dedicate this recognition to all victims, and more specifically to those who are fighting alone to get their rights and the truth acknowledged by courts. To these victims, who most often remain in the dark, Gisele wishes to express her admiration, because she thinks they are the true heroes, and [to] tell [them] that they must know they will never be alone.”
I started a post about a quote I’d read about crime against women last week, and didn’t complete it. I’d gone down a rabbit hole of gender-based crime stats and the global homicide data. Cheery stuff. The UN report states that in 2021 there were 458000 reported homicides worldwide, 19% of women and 81% men. Of these killings, over 50 % of women had their lives ended by intimate partners or family members, whilst the vast majority of men who were killed that year, 89%, were not killed by intimate partners or family members.
It is not the stranger outside the home who is the biggest threat to women’s lives, it is the people with whom they share their most intimate spaces.
Diagram showing the homicide data from 2021 by gender and perpetrator type
So when we see women who have not been able to speak out against their abusers, or who have not been able to leave, let’s be mindful of the judgements that fly through our minds and mouths. Gisele Pelicot is an inspiration, AND a reminder it is not always easy to walk away and to speak out. Sometimes it is impossible, and staying can be a matter of survival.
Of course the research shows the risk is not the same for all women. Gender-based violence is more likely in certain regions of the world, and if we looked at the data by race, we would surely see further differences.
Data from UN Global Study on Homicide- Gender killing of women and girls
Reading an article this morning by Lisa Bowleg, Professor and Director DC CFAR Social and Behavioral Sciences Core at The George Washington University, USA I was reminded of the importance of intersectionality. I say reminded because it is so easy to be blinkered by my / our experiences of the world, and not consider the different perspectives outside my / our vision. Bowleg shares Critical Race scholar, Mari Matsuda’s suggestion to use the “ask the other question” exercise, to help us widen the lens of the issue we’re trying to address;
The way I try to understand the interconnections of all forms of subordination is through a method I call “Ask the other question.” When I see something that looks racist, I ask “Where is the patriarchy in this?” When I see something that looks sexist, I ask, “Where is the heterosexism in this?” When I see something that looks homophobic, I ask, “Where are the class interests in this?” (Matsuda, 1991, p. 1189, cited in Lisa Bowleg, 2021).
How often do we pause to consider these questions? I’m a little better at it now that I live in such a multicultural society and am daily confronted by homophobia, racial violence, inequitable educational opportunities, poverty, and racial hierarchies to name a few inequalities, but there is a difference between seeing and doing differently. I still need to remember to ask the questions of myself and consider my own biased thoughts and practices.
I have never been more aware of my whiteness that being part of the DBT group I have mentioned before. In one of the first sessions we considered the impact of our past experiences and the things we are born with on our thoughts, beliefs and reactions to situations. I looked around and realised that I was the only white person in the room. It took me about 13 weeks before I commented on it; not on my whiteness, but more generally on the difference in the colour of our skin being something that has likely influenced our experiences.
I don’t know if it is a topic we will explore together but I’ve been reflecting on the women in the group. I won’t go into details for obvious reasons of confidentiality, but there have been seven amazing women present, with different interests, skills, experiences, ways of communicating, and lenses on the world. Only two of us are white, and even here there are significant differences; one being Caymanian, and the other British.
None of us have achieved historical, cultural, and political greatness, but what a conversation it would be if we all sat down together and explored our historical, cultural, and political influences. Or the topic that most often side-tracks us from the more boring bits of the group content- the foods we love to cook or eat! I can’t even imagine it! (Note: Actually, I’m mistaken- at least one of the women has achieved greatness- there is at least one International award winner).
What differences are there in our templates of the world, other people, and ourselves? How can these differences create space for creativity rather than restrict us? How might these create the type of change that International Women’s Day seeks?- rights, equality, empowerment.
Bowleg reminds us that the individual-level experiences of people at multiple marginalized intersections typically reflect social–structural systems of power, privilege, and inequality (e.g., Bowleg, 2012). Each time we change something on a micro level, we are shifting the system at a macro level.
It might not seem so, but it all makes a difference.
IWD isn’t about men vs women. It’s about equality, and equity for all.
The current system doesn’t always serve men especially well either. The UN stats show that 81% of homicide victims are men. The prison populations are disproportionately male. The political shifts we see, the constant return to violent conflict, the undervaluing of particular human qualities, do not serve most of us.
We cannot all be activists, or pioneers that achieve greatness, but we can all make a difference.
‘For the master's tools will never dismantle the master's house. They may allow us temporarily to beat him at his own game, but they will never enable us to bring about genuine change.’
Audre Lorde, 1979
This International Women’s Day, what small things can you do to make a difference? A male friend of mine posted something on Facebook that made me smile, as he acknowledged IWD and showed his support. Today’s not about women celebrating women and raising them up for being amazing, although that is important, and something women are often brilliant at (#notallwomen!). but it’s about a commitment from everyone to take a day to pause and consider gender inequity as it affects women in particular. This in turn benefits men, and boys. Empowered, safe, educated, healthy, valued, self-assured women make better friends, nurturers, lovers, employers, collaborators, researchers, creatives, and world leaders. Who wouldn’t want that? (And why..?)
Bowleg’s article finishes with the question that I think we need to ask on this day. Whatever path each one of you is walking, “Are you doing your [work]” affirmatively?
Have a good day xx