Today is international women's day, a day brought to my attention by one of my Soroptimist sisters, who happens to be the President of Soroptimist International, Laguna Beach.
As a woman and as the mother of two strong, independent thinking, courageous, and bold young women I decided to post this in their honor. If you are not a woman and reading this you came from a mom who is a woman. If you mother is no longer with you maybe you have a sister, a daughter, an aunt, a niece, a friend, or an employee. Please talk to the young women and girls in your life about valuing themselves. Let them know that they are not just here on planet earth to make a man happy (although I love being married and so do both of my girls.) Make sure that you are a good role model and teach all the young women you come in contact with how to live healthy, happy lives by honoring their body, their mind, and their spirit. Teach your girls to set high goals for themselves. The sky is the limit.
Here's a bit about IWD:
"IWD is now an official holiday in Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, China (for women only), Cuba, Georgia, Guinea-Bissau, Eritrea, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Madagascar (for women only), Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Nepal (for women only), Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Vietnam and Zambia. The tradition sees men honouring their mothers, wives, girlfriends, colleagues, etc with flowers and small gifts. In some countries IWD has the equivalent status of Mother's Day where children give small presents to their mothers and grandmothers.
The new millennium has witnessed a significant
change and attitudinal shift in both women's and society's thoughts
about women's equality and emancipation. Many from a younger generation
feel that 'all the battles have been won for women' while many feminists
from the 1970's know only too well the longevity and ingrained
complexity of patriarchy. With more women in the boardroom, greater
equality in legislative rights, and an increased critical mass of
women's visibility as impressive role models in every aspect of life,
one could think that women have gained true equality. The unfortunate
fact is that women are still not paid equally to that of their male
counterparts, women still are not present in equal numbers in business
or politics, and globally women's education, health and the violence
against them is worse than that of men.
However, great improvements have been made. We
do have female astronauts and prime ministers, school girls are welcomed
into university, women can work and have a family, women have real
choices. And so the tone and nature of IWD has, for the past few years,
moved from being a reminder about the negatives to a celebration of the
positives.
Annually
on 8 March, thousands of events are held throughout the world to
inspire women and celebrate achievements. A global web of rich and
diverse local activity connects women from all around the world ranging
from political rallies, business conferences, government activities and
networking events through to local women's craft markets, theatric
performances, fashion parades and more.
Many global corporations have also started to
more actively support IWD by running their own internal events and
through supporting external ones. For example, on 8 March search engine
and media giant Google some years even changes its logo on its global
search pages. Year on year IWD is certainly increasing in status. The
United States even designates the whole month of March as 'Women's
History Month'.
So make a difference, think globally and act
locally !! Make everyday International Women's Day. Do your bit to
ensure that the future for girls is bright, equal, safe and rewarding."
**Join me for The Call on March 15th at 6pm PacificTime. Dial 530-881-1300 and key-in 642848# You will get that much-needed mid-month inspiration!
As a father of 2 girls, I believe we men, along with our spouse must, as you say, support and encourage our own girls to know they can do anything they strive positively to achieve. And in Canada many of our leading politicians, business leaders and world class sports athletes, doctors et al are women. All should go for what their dreams call them to!
ReplyDeleteIt is also most important how we husbands and fathers treat our family, particularly our wives, concerning shared duties of the home, shared finances and shared decisions. As we share, we can replace the old concept of male/female rigid roles. This is changing for the better with more equal pay and more opportunities for new Mothers and new Fathers to share maternity benefits in Canada. Here we may split the 11 months leave of absence from work with partial Gov't Employment Insurance. It is good for the child, the mother and the father. And I mean good in a physical, emotional and financial way for the whole family.
God is Blessing all, always
J-M