As the title says- it’s International Women’s Day tomorrow on Wednesday 8th March and as the title instructs me to – I am going to #BeBoldForChange! That is the theme for this year’s International Women’s Day and being bold for change is a refreshingly demanding theme for us women.
Change is one of my favourite catch cries and in fact I wrote a blog about #change in 2011 when I first started writing blogs, because instituting lifetime change is what we Continence and Women’s and Men’s Health Physiotherapists have to inspire in women – we are obliged to encourage, cajole and nurture when we are educating women about managing problems with the pelvic floor. I liked my blog on #change so much (nothing like being a fan of your own writing) that I incorporated it into the conclusion of my books- because accepting and embracing change is how quality of life is maintained and improved in older age when there is increasing pelvic floor dysfunction.
But really I hear some (men) ask- why do we even have an International Women’s Day in this day and age? Is it still really necessary?
Well now in this digital age I have many virtual physio friends from the U.S. and if you read their posts in the lead up to the election and since the inauguration of Mr Trump (referred to from now on as DT), I feel they would say that the recognition and highlighting of IWD is more important than ever. Their dismay at the treatment and portrayal of women and girls during the past 8 months has been palpable because of the simply awful things that have been said and done to women. To the impressionable young girls in the US it must feel like a betrayal of their feminine being.
Not so far away, across the border in Canada of course is the complete antithesis of DT. And for all the women out there who love the other Justin (from hence known at TOJ) – here a reminder of Justin Trudeau extolling the virtue of the F word- feminism. What I find exhilarating when I listen to TOJ is his insistence that teaching young boys and men about feminism is as important as teaching young girls and women. #BeBoldForChange #Justin #swoon
Over the years, we in Australia have had our own awful disregard for the opinion and position of women in our political sphere and the workplace. Let me assure you, this meme below is not me being political. What is said in this meme may be something that many men may think to themselves – or not to themselves – they may actually articulate it at home, to their wives, or to their daughters, or in their workplace to their female employees or to their female friends.
But this was said by Tony Abbott when he was only 21. He was young and obviously silly.
Of course, he later went on to become our Prime Minister and the Minister for Women in a Government that only had five women at the Cabinet table and where a man was the Minister for Women…… (It is interesting to read this full Liz Jackson interview during the 2010 election, where the quote was from, and realize it feels like we are living in a parallel universe). Of course I am sure, now that Mr Abbott is considerably older and wiser, he has a completely different idea about the value that women bring to the Cabinet or business table and how important a female perspective on anything is (such as world peace; such as diplomacy and words before guns and bombs; such as seeing people for what they are – people rather than a religion- remember I am following the theme for IWD #BeBoldForChange so am being deliberately provocative.) Well I hope he does anyway.
So the purpose of these musings?
It’s to reiterate for any women or men who think otherwise- acknowledging International Women’s Day is important.
It’s to encourage women to keep strong and resilient in the face of prejudice and unfairness in the workplace.
And it’s to say to women #BeBoldForChange in every aspect of your life from your bladder and bowel dysfunction to challenging inequity when you see it.
And to finish on a positive note -thank you to one of my lovely Women’s Health colleagues Meggan (developer of a great app called Clock Yourself to help with balance maintenance and improvement) for finding this quote from E.B. White:
I arise in the morning torn between desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day.
Make sure you spend International Women’s Day both improving and enjoying the world.
#BeBoldForChange #IWD2017 #Feminism #Feminismisnotadirtyword