International Women’s Day is a global celebration that is dedicated to uplifting women and recognising their achievements. It has been celebrated since 1911 and it was born out of socialism, protest and a fight for rights. Women have struggled throughout history to claim an equality with men. They have been pushed into the background, they haven’t seemed worthy of education, of jobs or of owning property. They have had roles created for them and boundaries set. Some have rebelled and fought tooth and nail to escape the restrictions placed upon them. This has often resulted in punishments, jail, being locked up in institutions and death.
Throughout history there have been women who have stood their ground and tried to live the life they wanted that wasn’t typical of their time. Often they were branded as witches and suffered terribly, many of them hounded, tortured and killed. If they had a mole on their skin, they were a witch. If they didn’t marry, they could be accused of being a witch. If they were the village midwife and a birth went wrong, they were a witch. If a cow died and a woman had walked passed the field and glanced at the cow and a scapegoat was needed then they were a witch. Illnesses, accidents, poor harvests….anything could be blamed on a woman.
Helen Duncan was the last woman to be imprisoned under the Witchcraft Act…she died in 1956!! When we think of witches we presume that it was all during the 1600s. The trial of the Pendle Witches was in 1612, a horrific frenzy of torture and death for eight women and two men. There was a role of Witch-Finder, a job to hunt out witches and kill them. It is quite shocking to think that the Witchcraft Act of 1735 was still in force in 1956. This was after the Second World War, it was the year of the Suez Crisis and Grace Kelly married Prince Rainier of Morocco. It is almost unbelievable.
The suffragettes were women that should always be remembered. They fought bravely for equality, for the right to vote. Rape in marriage wasn’t considered a crime, women were not allowed to sit on a jury, they weren’t allowed to graduate from Oxford or Cambridge…they fought against this huge inequality and injustice and for being seen as second class citizens. They campaigned through controversial means and were often imprisoned where they went on hunger strikes and were force fed. Emily Davison was a militant suffragette who died after being hit by a horse in the 1913 Derby. There is footage of her stepping out into the path of the horses and being struck by them. Her injuries were so horrific that she died four days later. It wasn’t until 1928 until women, over twenty one, finally got the right to vote.
So, International Women’s Day is important. We need to remember the women who suffered, who fought and who died. We also need to remember the women who succeeded and stood out when everything was against them. Women like Elizabeth I, Amy Johnson, Emmeline Pankhurst, Florence Nightingale, The Brontes, Marie Stopes and, whether you love her or hate her, Margaret Thatcher, to name just a few.
Of course there are many, many women out there who will never be named in the history books, but they are strong and they are inspiring. Their contributions may seem small, but from small acts we have seen strength and inspiration flourish.
I work with some great women. We celebrated International Women’s Day at our session in Colne. It was quite fitting that the first dozen or so donors through the door were all women. In fact, unusually, the whole day was dominated by women. There is usually an even mix of male and female donors, but today there were definitely many more women than men.
We were working in a little theatre and so it was perfect to capture the first donors, all female, on the chairs.
As the women…and men…donated they could read our message stuck to the table in front of them.
#breakthebias is the theme for 2022. Gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow. There are more and more women who are in roles of power, but there is still a way to go. We are heading in the right direction.
Charlotte was quite fittingly, wearing her purple mask today. I couldn’t resist a photo of Lauren with her purple hair.
Gillian may not have been wearing purple, but her ‘Tough Mudder’ top proves she is a strong woman. (As a little quirky point of interest the theme for her Tough Mudder was Star Paws, based on the Star Wars films and her donation number was 007. She spanned two movies quite nicely)
Not only did some women wear the perfect colours for today, they shared their inspirational women stories with me.
Julia told me about Dorothy. Dorothy was a headmistress of a school and she adopted Julia’s mother when she was fourteen years old. Her mother lived in a small village and it was assumed that she would just get married and have a family and that would be her role in life. Dorothy gave her the opportunity to further her education and eventually become a nurse. In fact, she was one of the first nurses in the NHS in 1948. Dorothy also gave Julia the confidence to go to university and study science. As Julia said, Dorothy was a real woman who made a real difference, she was inspirational.
Many of the woman whom I asked to share their inspirational women with me said that it was their mother. Frances told me about her mother who held a full time job in a factory but was also a seam mistress in her ‘spare time’. She whipped up wedding dresses, went to work and looked after a family.
Lisa said that Dawn French was inspirational, she is a great actor, a brilliant comedian and a woman who doesn’t take herself too seriously. She never let her weight bother her and she is a role model for other women.
So we wore the colours of the suffragettes.
We wore badges.
We talked of role models and inspirational women. We celebrated being the great women that we are. And…I even got Daz to do a little shimmy to the international Women’s Day playlist….
I need to end on an inspirational woman in my life…my sister. Rachel works for Oxfam and she is currently in Romania on the border with Ukraine. Thousands of women are flooding out of Ukraine with their children and she is there to help them. Whilst we are safe at home she has travelled to a horrific situation to help. She is an inspiration.
So, to all the women who have suffered in history just for being born a woman, to the women who drowned on a ducking stool, were burnt at the stake or hanged for being a witch, to the suffragettes, to the role models, to those who took a step beyond, to the teachers, to the healers, to the writers, to the mothers, the sisters, the grandmothers and the aunts, to those who said I can, to leaders, to the young and the old….woman past and present, YOU ARE STRONG. YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL and always believe in yourself.
need2bleed 