SPEAK UP AND TAKE UP SPACE!
This International Women’s Day (and every day) Local Women columnist Jordan Arnold wants you to take action and make your voice heard.
Happy Women’s History Month, dear readers!
Yes, March is all about us ladies, serving to recognise the contributions of women throughout history and today.
And this year, the theme of International Women’s Day (March 8th) is ‘Accelerate Action’. What does that mean, exactly? Well, according to IWD’s official website: “Focusing on the need to Accelerate Action emphasises the importance of taking swift and decisive steps to achieve gender equality. It calls for increased momentum and urgency in addressing the systemic barriers and biases that women face, both in personal and professional spheres.”
I was having a chat with a colleague recently about growing up under a patriarchy. And if
that sentence made you roll your eyes, you’re very much a victim of it. No, ‘feminist’ is not a bad word, and modern society is not a place where you have to nod and smile politely, make yourself small, or laugh at jokes about women in the kitchen, lest you scare the menfolk. And no, it’s “not all men,” but a generally patriarchal, leaning-towards-misogynistic society has absolutely—consciously or subconsciously—impacted our lives as females.
The aforementioned colleague is someone I see as fiercely strong and independent—the antithesis of an agreeable wallflower. So, I was interested to hear about her experience as a mother to a daughter, and what it’s like raising a girl in the generation below mine (or possibly two below). Funny how, even when typing that last sentence, my immediate gut instinct was to make a self-deprecating joke about how old I’m getting. I’m 33! I’m not old; I’m a product of toxic societal prejudices!
We discussed how society has definitely progressed since we were growing up—surrounded by Heat magazines circling cellulite patches, and postpartum Spice Girls being weighed on television and praised for getting their baby weight off (yes, that really happened). Call it living in a more ‘woke’ or PC world, or call it what it is—women refusing to be viewed solely as objects anymore.
So, in the spirit of accelerating action and continuing to push for a world where women take up as much space as they deserve, here are a few words of wisdom I’d like to pass on to my younger self, to our daughters, nieces, students, and to any woman who needs to hear them:
● Speak up, even when it’s uncomfortable. Whether it’s calling out sexism in a
conversation or advocating for yourself in the workplace, your voice matters. It
always has, and it always will.
● Stop apologising for existing. We’ve been conditioned to shrink ourselves—whether it’s physically taking up less space or prefacing every email with “Sorry to bother you, just checking in…” Own your presence. Your words don’t need
a disclaimer.
● Be intentional about how you speak to younger girls. Compliment their talents,
curiosity, and kindness as much as (if not more than) their looks. They need to know
they are more than pretty; they are powerful.
● Remember: You are not “too much.” Too loud, too opinionated, too
ambitious—these are all ways society has tried to make women, and women only,
feel small. Take up space, own your achievements, and never dull your sparkle for
the comfort of others.
● Lift other women up. The world is tough enough on us as it is—we don’t need to
make it harder for each other. Celebrate women’s successes, support their ventures,
and be the kind of woman who roots for others, loudly and unapologetically. There is
room for everyone at the table. The trope of women being pitted against one another
is antiquated.
Women’s History Month is a time to reflect on how far we’ve come, but more importantly, it’s a time to take action. If we want a future where the next generation of women doesn’t have to unlearn the same things we did, we have to keep pushing forward. So, here’s to being bold, taking up space, and refusing to apologise for it.
I’ll leave you with a quote from rugby player and Olympic gold medallist Ilona Maher, who has become one of my heroes in the past year. She took to TikTok and said:
“Stop asking women how we deal with imposter syndrome. I’ve been asked this a couple of times in interviews…And every time I sit back and think, ‘Did I say I have imposter syndrome?’ So, are you saying you automatically assume I must not feel that I am deserving of where I’m at?” She then concluded: “It’s interesting. You think they’re asking NFL players [or] male politicians if they have imposter syndrome? Probably not.”
*Mic drop*
