International Women’s Day

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On March 8th it will be International Women’s Day. A day that’s celebrated in a number of ways around the world. Maybe as a form of respect and ongoing love- can there ever be too much of that? Or perhaps coming from a political and social awareness view point. Here, they are all enthusiastically supported, and for me International Women’s Day is an important one.

Within these blog pages I’ve written about being a Distracted Feminist, about women that inspire me, why acknowledging the wonderful everyday women in your life is important and some guilty rambles with a divided heart. Yes, talking about women, the way they work, the way we feel, the way women are portrayed, the countless journey’s that still lie ahead. It’s important to me.

Am I a feminist? Damn straight I am.

Do I believe in starting conversations and causing ripples where often inequality silently still sits. Yes, yes I will. As my beautiful friend Fran keeps reminding me, ripples become waves and waves change things up. There are still countless opportunities in our communities for things to be changed up.

In order to make those changes you need to believe in something. You need to have a fire within your belly, you need to be inspired and sometimes these changes take time. Inspiration can come from countless different places. Whether it’s your own musings propelling you forward, the people that surround your every day giving you strength or the very things that you see before you.

Our visual story is an important one, and one that I’m acutely aware of at the moment. With less time for words these days, many people often hold far more importance to a simple picture. It can be worth a thousand words, and it can also ignite a multitude of action towards gender equality, empowerment, or simply kindness. And that can only be a good thing. #beboldforchange

Happy International Women’s Day.

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Some links for Change, Thinking and Inspiration

A change.org petition for gender equality school uniforms

Mem Fox- “No more passive behaviour. Hear me roar”

Women Photograph

Why female photographers matter more than ever

UN Women