and yet, the way women are spoken about continues to send that message.
Today is International Women's Day and, like every year, a worldwide awakening will take over social media and mainstream media alike.
Events celebrating women's "achievements" will pop everywhere and although the focus will be: " remembering the accomplishments of women who were left out of the dominant narrative", it is likely that the benchmark used to select those accomplishments to be celebrated will be one defined by the dominant narrative.
Instead, given that in 2021, the theme for #IWD is #ChooseToChallenge, I would like to propose a shift in perspective by acknowledging the value of the unpaid contributions women make to society. *
Why? Because for as long as unremunerated contributions to society are not considered achievements in their own right, and today's Doodle is a good illustration that they are not, we will only "see" the women who fit the dominant narrative, not the half of the population women actually are.
And for as long as this happens, women will continue to be spoken about and considered as a minority and very few will be sitting at the tables where solutions to help society as a whole are being developed.**
If a shift in perspective is the change I would like to see... what is the change you would like to see?
*Data: Last year, The Young Women's Trust (using government data) published a report which calculated that Women between 18-30 contribute to the UK economy £140 Billion worth of unpaid work (more than the financial sector). Using the same calculation method, Inews reported that women 18-100 contribute £700 billion worth of unpaid work.
**I hope it goes without saying that I am not referring to the UK only.
Events by NAWIC & Collaborators
International Women's Day NAWIC Wellness Club Challenge: https://www.nawic.london/events/event/iwd-challenge-part-of-nawic-wellness-club/
NAWIC International Women's Day Transatlantic Panel: https://www.nawic.london/events/event/international-womens-day-panel/
(WIA) The Challenge of working from home - is it good, bad, or ugly? https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-future-of-women-in-architecture-the-big-debate-1-tickets-142484243207?aff=ebdssbeac
(BBU) IWD Build | Career Mentoring https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/build-career-mentoring-tickets-138193365075?mc_cid=c6ee6ddcd7&mc_eid=79e549b401
