International Women’s Day 2015 and why you should never apologise for being a feminist

Cross-posted from: Reimagining my Reality
Originally published: 08.03.15

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^^International Women’s Day represents an opportunity to celebrate the achievements of women while calling for greater equality. The theme this year is Make It Happen. You can get involved by sharing your support on social media and wearing purple (the colour used by suffragette’s to symbolise justice and dignity)^^

I’d hoped to write a post about International Women’s Day before, erm, International Women’s Day. But life got in the way. An insomniac* baby, a poorly 4-year-old, and an insurmountable pile of work to do by tomorrow has left me a bit weary, and I considered not writing this. But then I remembered how much today matters, and how the voices of women are too often stifled by brute force, guilt, shame, and exhaustion.

* I jest. Kind of.
Read more International Women’s Day 2015 and why you should never apologise for being a feminist

On International Women’s Day, Clothes and Being Female

cross-posted from Bungling Housewife

Happy International Women’s Day everyone! Here’s to hoping our daughters and grand daughters can grow up in a world where they aren’t judged, labelled or despised based on something they can’t control: their biological gender. Hell I’ll settle for a world where girls aren’t judged solely on the clothes they choose to wear because apparently:

Women clothing judgement
Image courtesy of http://www.pinterest.com

If a girl wears ‘sexy’ clothing = she’s a slut

If a girl wears ‘normal’ clothes = she’s not sexy enough or is boring

If a girl wears conservative clothes = she’s obviously repressed so therefore desperate for it

If a girl wears a hijab/headscarf = she’s oppressed and obviously needs liberating

If a girl wears a burqa = she’s a terrorist

Dear world, please grow up. We are so much more than the clothes on our back.

 

Bungling Housewife: I’m an Anthropologist by training, a housewife by choice, a voracious reader, a lover of fantasy fiction and Sci-Fi, a new mommy, an observer of human nature, a closet optimist and a cupcake enthusiast. I write about all of the above and anything that might strike my fancy :)

Happy International Women’s Day

(Cross-posted from Opinionated Planet)

The months slip by so quickly, with article after article after blog post filled with thoughts on feminism and women’s liberation. And here we are again, on International Women’s Day, with the news headlines full of the murder, sexual assault, rape and domestic abuse of women and girls. The battle to be safe from male violence in all it’s forms is at the forefront of a lot of women’s campaigning. It never ends and it never stops. It may never stop.

But there are women out there who work tirelessly – often without pay – to keep other women safe and I want to thank them.

I want to thank them for their passion, their drive, their commitment.

Their unceasing determination to make the structural changes necessary to make women’s lives better.

These women work behind the scenes to ensure the safety of women’s services. They are known, and unknown. They are in every arena, from politics and policy to refuges and helplines.

Without them, we would be much, much worse off.

Thank you…

 

Opinionated Planet: a radical feminist blog by women for women on male violence, women-only spaces and sports

International Women’s Day: Raising a boy in a sexist world by @Pasta_Patchwork

Cross-posted with permission from Pasta & Patchwork

 

You can find more from Pasta & Patchwork here.