Women Of The World Week

So I know it has been a while since my last post, but I have been super busy with my new job and I've also been knocked over by the good old English cold and have been doing everything possible to get rid of it. Lying in front of the TV for 48 hours anyone? Not that I'm complaining – you would have to pay me to leave the house in this weather!

Anyway back to the reason for this post – today for those of you who don’t know is International Woman’s Day! Yay! And to make this news even better, I am going to see Caitlin Moran tonight for her book launch at the Southbank Centre in London.

This week is Women of the World week (WOW) which aims to encompass everything for every woman. There are talks on the gender pay gap, women’s opportunities, talks from women who have successfully broken the glass ceiling etc. Last year they also had a woman’s weightlifting competition and talks for young girls on why they feel like they can’t go into careers which are ‘for boys’ like mechanics and scientists. Basically this week is just my cup of tea as it provides a space where people can go and openly talk about the issues facing gender equality.

There is a lot of naivety surrounding gender equality, with quite a lot of people wrongly believing that it’s not an issue.  I have friends who have been brought up with an aim to be a housewife, despite a great education, I have friends who think that there is something wrong with them because they are single rather than embracing it as many men do. We still live in a society where girls are deemed 'sluts' for being sexually free whereas men are 'lads'. I, to this day have never seen a TV advert for cleaning where a man is doing the hoovering or washing up, and it’s not even worth getting me started on the idea that women need to change their name and be ‘given away’ when they get married.  So for me the problem of gender equality is very much alive.

But on top of this, there is the elephant in the room – a huge reason to tackle gender equality from a young age. I think the main problem here is that if I think about my female friends, my sisters and their friends I can’t think of a single one, myself included, who hasn’t been sexually assaulted in some form or another. This should be enough of a reason to stand up to change, to stand up for those who are unable to do it for themselves, to stand up to the injustice and victim blaming which has become a part of our society. We live in a society where girls are scared to walk home by themselves at night, scared to talk to strangers and if they get assaulted scared to report it. It’s not their fault.

So make a change, sign up for campaigns such as Emma Watson’s HeForShe, look out for your female friends, your sisters and stand up when you head people making sexist jokes and if my writing hasn’t given you any insight then these videos should do it for you:

Food for thought everyone!

Enjoy Women on the World Week!

NB:Images are not mine and were sourced from Google Images, Video's from YouTube.