Today people around the world celebrate International Women’s Day. However, I’m not sure that the word ‘celebrate’ fully captures my feelings toward the day – a sentiment some other women might share too, writes Cape {town} Etc’s Ashleigh Nefdt.
Of course, the shift of progress, especially when we cast our gazes at a historical incline is well-worthy of celebration. Not because closer strides to gender equality are a ‘gift’, but because big moves were fought for throughout history. And so we celebrate all the women before us and recognise their power that as women today we now stand in – in heels, sneakers, barefoot or in Birkenstocks. As Maya Angelou once mused; “how important it is for us to recognize and celebrate our heroes and she-roes!”
If you needed some empowering quotes today to remind you of just how powerful it is to be a woman, you’ve come to the right place:
Here are 8 inspiring quotes that celebrate, and recognise women in our power, together:
- ‘I stand on the sacrifices of a million women before me thinking what can I do to make this mountain taller so the women after me can see farther’ – Rupi Kaur, Canadian poet
- “I think realizing that you’re not alone, that you are standing with millions of your sisters around the world is vital.” – Malala Yousafzai, Pakistani activist (education for females)
- “I have chosen to no longer be apologetic for my femaleness and my femininity. And I want to be respected in all of my femaleness because I deserve to be.”
–Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie from her book ‘We Should All Be Feminists’
Here are 8 quotes to remind those who identify as men that the fight against GBV in SA needs them too
- “Sometimes being a good ally is about opening the door for someone instead of insisting that your voice is the only one that matters.”
Hood Feminism: Notes from the Women That a Movement Forgot’ - “If you’re calling for an end to unrest… but you’re not calling for an end to the conditions that created the unrest, you’re a hypocrite,” Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, American politician and activist
- “I may be a little grayer than I was eight years ago, but this is what a feminist looks like.” – Barack Obama
- “It is by standing up for the rights of girls and women that we truly measure up as men.”—Desmond Tutu
- “The argument that ‘boys will be boys’ actually carries the profoundly anti-male implication that we should expect bad behavior from boys and men. The assumption is that they are somehow not capable of acting appropriately, or treating girls and women with respect.”-Jackson Katz, American author and social theorist
- ‘All men should be feminists.‘If men care about women’s rights the world will be a better place. We are better off when women are empowered – it leads to a better society.’- John Legend, singer/songwriter
- “Each and every one of us has the capacity to be an oppressor. I want to encourage each and every one of us to interrogate how we might be an oppressor and how we might be able to become liberators for ourselves and for each other.”-Laverne Cox, American actress and LGBTIQ rights advocate
- “We have absolutely no reason to keep smiling, because South African women are dying every day and mostly people are doing nothing about it. It is not up to us, it’s up to perpetrators to start doing right.” – Zozibini Tunzi former Miss SA and Miss Universe
At a broader glance, this year’s theme for International Women’s Day as announced by the United Nations is “Gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow”. This observation recognises and celebrates the women and girls spearheading climate change movements, and many of them are powerhouses.
African women like Nakabuye Hilda F and Winnie Asiti are two icons in the climate change fight to know.
And of course, we can’t forget the gender equality mantra, something that relates not only to climate change efforts, but to GBV in SA.
Here are 8 serving up food for thought on gender equality
- ‘Reproductive sexual difference remains the villain of the piece.’ – Rachel Holmes, biographer of Sylvia Pankhurst
- “Gender equality is more than a goal in itself. It is a precondition for meeting the challenge of reducing poverty, promoting sustainable development and building good governance.” – Kofi Annan, Former United Nations General Secretary
- “In the face of patriarchy, it is a brave act indeed for both men and women to embrace, rather than shame or attempt to eradicate, the feminine.” — Alanis Morissette, Canadian-American alternative rock singer-songwriter.
- “Life is not a competition between men and women. It is a collaboration.”-David Alejandro Fearnhead, journalist
- “We’ve begun to raise daughters more like sons… but few have the courage to raise our sons more like our daughters,” Gloria Steinem
- “Both men and women should feel free to be sensitive. Both men and women should feel free to be strong…it is time that we all perceive gender on a spectrum not as two opposing sets of ideas.”–
- “The scrutiny on our bodies distracts us from what’s really going on here: control. The emphasis on our appearance distracts us from the real focus: power.”
Beyond the Gender Binary’
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Picture: Pinterest