It’s been a big year for women; good and bad. The #metoo movement has been in equal parts heartbreaking and empowering and Women’s Marches around the world brought together millions of females and provided them with a platform and voice to speak out against gender discrimination. All while hundreds of women took a stand against sexual harassment (yeah, you’ll remember that speech from Oprah, and the subsequent galvanising of the ‘Time’s Up’ movement that came with it).
The past year has been about women supporting women and FYI, ‘feminism’ was Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary’s most searched word of 2017 off the back of IWD 2017’s #BeBoldForChange campaign. International Women’s Day aims to continue this momentum. Here’s what you need to know about March 8th:
The theme:
This year’s campaign theme #PressForProgress shines a spotlight on gender parity, with an emphasis on gender inclusivity; to serve as a very, very stark reminder that the World Economic Forum considers us to be over 200 years away from gender parity.
The International Women’s Day organisation says “we can’t be complacent. Now, more than ever, there’s a strong call-to-action to press forward and progress gender parity. A strong call to #PressforProgress. A strong call to motivate and unite friends, colleagues and whole communities to think, act and be gender inclusive.”
They continue: “while we know that gender parity won’t happen overnight, the good news is that across the world women are making positive gains day by day. Plus, there’s indeed a very strong and growing global movement of advocacy, activism and support.
International Women’s Day is not country, group or organisation specific. The day belongs to all groups collectively everywhere. So together, let’s all be tenacious in accelerating gender parity.”
In addition to the day, the campaign now provides a year-long point of reference and direction for women and groups, offering a framework for galvanising and uniting global activity aimed at accelerating gender parity.
The colour:
Pantone’s ‘Ultra Violet’ has been named the brand’s 19th Colour Of The Year, to communicate “originality, ingenuity and visionary thinking that points us towards the future.” We can certainly get on board with that! Whether it’s head to toe purple, a purple ribbon, purple nails, a purple smokey-eye or simply consuming large quantities of eggplant, make sure you purple up on March the 8th ladies.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BedXsfZDVwO/?taken-by=pantone
The events:
Each year, IWD events are held worldwide and encompass everything from conferences, fun runs, awards, exhibitions, festivals, corporate events, concert performances, speaking events, online digital gatherings and more. Check out the International Women’s Day events page to find out about events near you.
Time’s up, girls.
