International Women's Day 2019
Today is International Women’s Day 2019. Still in this day and age we need a day that celebrates women, supports gender equality and pushes for a #BalanceforBetter. It should be a no-brainer but evidently there is still work to be done. In addition, I find that Mother’s Day is fast approaching this month and both are creating the perfect storm for me to examine the legacy and blueprint I am providing for my own daughter to navigate her way through the world.
I was lucky. My sister and I had an incredible role model. A woman who successfully bred in us the drive to be ourselves and to see no boundaries or limits to what it was possible to achieve. A woman who instilled a love for sport and fitness, for working with others and for ourselves. She showed us how to drive forward, to always celebrate our successes and to readjust to keep our eyes on the horizon at every bump in the road. I never felt the need to question my ambition or whether or not I had the right to succeed, considering my gender. Female or not, my ambition was never limited by stereotype, gender, age or any societal norms. She gave me the confidence for that and I thank my lucky stars every day that she cracked the horizons wide open for me.
My daughter is lucky too. I hope that she will feel equally nonchalant about the possibilities at her fingertips. Her mother aside, she is surrounded by strong capable women. It’s not unusual for her to see a woman running her own business while both her Mum and her Aunt do so. Amongst my own friends and her pretend “Aunties” are women in charge and women who lead – who steer departments, head up companies, care for their families, run schools, create art and music and who bring teeny tiny life into the world in Glasgow’s largest hospital. The possibilities for my daughter are endless. My wish is that she might never see any restriction to what she can achieve or attain.
We live in a privileged society in the west end of one of Scotland’s largest cities. I do not deny that there is much work to be done globally to ensure the safety of women, their education, their health and their right to achieve. That said, my hope is that my girl never questions if she has to fight stereotype or gender imbalance to achieve her dreams but that she fights for what she wants none the less. My hope is that while, yes, she is “lucky” to have the shining examples in her life of strong amazing women, I will ensure she realises that this is not an accident of good fortune. These women sweat and strive for what they have and show the rewards of that incredible work.
My hope is that she has everything and anything that her happy creative glitter bomb colour-filled rainbow unicorn brain can dream up. My hope is that her brother also learns the same lessons from the same women because we already know that gender does not define who your role models can be. They will hold the world in their hands because they have never been shown that they need to question if it is possible
On this International Day of Women: I celebrate the Woman who came first, the Women who walk alongside me every day and the incredible wee Woman who will dream Big for the future.