Editorials

#YEAR13PROBLEMS

4 March 2018

By Lauren E. White

International Women’s Day

This Thursday is International Women’s Day, and it’s a special one. It’s special because it occurs in the same year that celebrates 100 years since some women in Britain were given the right to vote.

So, I obviously have to dedicate this week’s column to such a special day so that, first of all, everyone is aware of the day coming up and also so that the theme of this year’s day, #PressForProgress, reaches everyone. And by everyone, I mean you and all of the people who don’t read the ‘big’ news websites and choose to read some of our stuff instead (or alongside it, to be fair).

Press for progress

So, press for progress. What does it mean? Well, it means pushing for change. It means putting pressure on the powerful. It means women and men rallying together to improve the lives of women around the world. We’re living in just the right climate for this theme to come forward, think about it. Me Too and Time’s Up have been strong and highly publicised movements and, Time’s Up, in particular, focus on Hollywood.

Pressing for progress means everywhere, not just Los Angeles. It means in all of America. It means in Germany. It means in Saudi. It means in India. It means in England. It means in the Philippines. It means in Canada. It means everywhere. We need to push for progress all around the world in many different areas. While women in England enjoy many more rights than women in Saudi, we can press for progress in both countries, just about different things.

What I love about this year’s theme is that it doesn’t collapse into the issue that so many so-called ‘feminists’ do. They say some of our issues are trivial because other women can’t vote, are subjected to extreme and constant violence and have a worse experience of life than other women. This theme doesn’t do that. It recognises the context and it recognises that each woman has their own struggle. And each woman’s struggles are equal because the magnitude of them is, to the individual, equal.

So, happy International Women’s Day. It’s going to be great.

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