When I was 8 years old, the Spice Girls taught me (and so many others in my generation) the importance of Girl Power, and that’s a belief I’ve maintained well into adulthood.
March 8th, marks International Women’s Day, a holiday created to honor and recognize the significant social, economic, cultural and political contributions of women throughout the world. It’s unfortunate that in 2016 we can’t honestly say that our society has reached complete and absolute gender equality. In fact, according to a study by the World Economic Forum in 2015, it’s estimated that the gender gap won’t close entirely until 2133.
That’s SCARY. I never take for granted the fact that I’m extremely lucky to work in an industry that is overwhelmingly dominated by women. Every day, I get to come to work with and learn from passionate, intelligent and ambitious women. However, I realize that most women aren’t as lucky and it’s difficult to even imagine how frustrating it must be to work in a male-dominated industry and wonder if you’re being judged for your gender rather than your talent.
According to the website for International Women’s Day, this holiday is an opportunity for everyone (men and women) to take a pledge to help achieve gender parity more quickly, whether by helping women and girls achieve their ambitions, calling for gender-balanced leadership, respecting and valuing difference, developing more inclusive and flexible cultures or rooting out workplace bias.
This day offers us a chance to think about the way we treat women compared to the way we treat men. It’s time that society recognizes that we should be complimenting women by saying, “You’re so smart” rather than “You’re so pretty” and acknowledging the immense potential and value women bring to all spheres of society and the business world. In honor of this day, here are ten inspiring quotes by women who have kicked patriarchy to the curb and made it in what is supposedly a man’s world.
- “If you’re in a male dominated workplace, don’t get too comfortable being the only woman in the room. Remember to try to find opportunities to bring other women in – to throw the rope down. It’s a dangerous thing to think: ‘I’m the woman in this room, so that’s my role.’ I try to tell young women, don’t be tricked into thinking that you’re in the field to compete with other women.” – Tina Fey
- “A bossy woman is someone who cares and commits and is a natural leader.” – Amy Poehler
- “A man told me that for a woman, I was very opinionated. I said ‘for a man, you’re kind of ignorant.’” – Anne Hathaway
- “My coach said I run like a girl. And I said if he ran a little faster he could too.” – Mia Hamm
- “It’s time that we all see gender as a spectrum instead of two sets of opposing ideals. We should stop defining each other by what we are not and start defining ourselves by who we are.” – Emma Watson
- “I don’t want to be thought of as the girl who was shot by the Taliban, but as the girl who fought for education. This is the cause to which I want to devote my life.” – Malala Yousafazai (the ultimate #YesQueen inspiration).
- “I am a woman with thoughts and questions and sh*t to say. I say if I’m beautiful. I say if I’m strong. You will not determine my story, I will.” – Amy Schumer
- “Other women who are killing it should motivate you, thrill you, challenge you and inspire you.” – Taylor Swift
- “When I’m sometimes asked when will there be enough women on the Supreme Court? And I say ‘When there are nine.’ People are shocked. But there’d been nine men, and nobody’s ever raised a question about that.” – Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg
- “Who run the world? GIRLS.” – Beyonce
