Yes yes… I’m a bloody feminist and I’m proud of it. I’m an intersectional feminist, I think all uterus havers, female identifying, cis, and in between who want to be included should be. No exceptions. Please google Intersectional Feminism before you read any further and apply that definition to everything I say from here on out.
Whew, now that we’ve gotten that out of the way…. I’ve been thinking about what, if anything I wanted to share. And naturally because this is the most swamped I’ve felt with everything else in my life I decided I wanted to read a book, write about 5 different aspects of women’s history and current issues facing women. That said, I am a badass, busy, and over enthusiastic writer… so we shall see how much of this turns out to be worth posting.
This entire month is for celebrating women’s history. The history of yet another group of people who until somewhat recent history, didn’t get counted. A history of a thousand fights fought, lives lost, and moments of soul sucking bull shit. And I’m going to do what I can to bring that history into this century, talk about what’s better, and figure out what we still need to do.
There’s this divide in our world between history and present. What was then and now. In social media, ‘then’ was 6 months ago… 2 years ago… and we consider that to be some monumental passage. When really anything under 150 years is but a speck and so much closer to us than we think.
But back to today… International Women’s Day. I did some reading, some thinking, and some research. I made a list of 10 things you can do today, to make a marked difference, big and small, for the women of the world.
1. Donate any amount you can to a charitable foundation supporting education for women and girls. World wide, we face education inequality, and that remains one of the biggest barriers we have between where we are now and equality for women everywhere.
2. Listen. Pick a podcast, a new YouTuber, or a radio host even, call you mom or sister… find a women and listen. It might not be life changing, for either of you in that moment. But doing it with intention, might help you to do it again, a will help to give women more of a voice at the table.
3. Pick up a book… order it, buy it, borrow it. Written by a women. It doesn’t have to be long. I will post a list later this week if you can’t come up with any, but Modern Herstory, Hood Feminist, and Who Stole Feminism? Are all good options. My point is, expand on number 2. Listen. Read.
4. The next time you get irritated with a women… (or anyone really) take a deep breath, and remember that we ALL have trauma. Women especially, BIWOC even more so… but everyone. Okay, now… think about it and let that realization inform your response. It’s been a long four years, and the last one was especially harrowing. People are dying at alarming rates still. Breath. I know I need a fucking break, be the person who gives that break for someone.
5. Think about the caregivers in your life. Okay.. now think about the ones who are women… Now I want you to ask yourself if you’ve give the recognition and thanks for the work they did? Did you value the energy, love, soul, and hard ass work they put in to take care of you? Even if you think the answer to that is yes… send them a thank you note and do better.
6. Text your mom. (Or strong women you admire) and tell her you love her and why she matters to you.
7. Rates of maternal mortality are rising… yes in the 21st century. This is especially true for black women in the US. Think about it, internalize that. And keep it in your mind. We must improve our health care system and health education. We DO have a problem with systemic racism.
8. Log on to your social media, find 3 incredible and empowering women, share their accounts. Raise the voices of women around the world. Amplify.
9. Random Act of Kindness… buy a coffee, give a GREAT tip, leave a nice note, donate time or money. Do something nice for a women today, for no other reason than to do something nice.
10. This week, this month… and for as long as you can. Keep it up. Donate, Listen, Internalize, Amplify, Educate, Appreciate, and Communicate. I know there are a lot of causes out there. But very few raise up this large a percent of the population… I promise it’s worth it.
Thanks for reading, I hope you try at least one or two of my suggestions, and come back for more great stuff!
Coffee & Conundrums 