Happy International Women’s Day, Hofstra! Here’s to women everywhere. We’re working towards a happier, healthier future every day and this day is in celebration of all the hard fought equality and rights we’ve obtained over the years.
A brief history lesson of the holiday, as provided by the International Women’s Day site, tells us that the first official recognition of the day was on March 9, 1911 in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland. “More than one million women and men attended IWD rallies campaigning for women’s rights to work, vote, be trained, to hold public office and end discrimination” notes the synopsis.
Fast forward to just two years after the centennial and women of today are doing better than ever. Here’s four famous females who are definitely rocking their womanhood:
Michelle Obama:
If you ever have a chance to be in a room with her, after you’re done basking in the political royalty, recognize the talent behind the title. The First Lady is not only known for her fashionably affordable style but is one of the most public presidential counterparts in years. With her anti-obesity campaign, “Let’s Move”, Mrs. Obama has worked “to get folks across this country to change the way a generation of kids thinks about food and nutrition” through heading dance classes and nutrition seminars nationwide. She even showed off her mom-dance moves on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, a segment that proceeded to go viral on YouTube. (And let’s not forget about her big Oscars debut last month announcing Best Picture).
Marissa Mayer:
Taking the reigns as the newly minted CEO of Yahoo!, Mayer has publicly strategized about how to make the previously dwindling search engine competitive with mega beast Google. As the youngest CEO of a Fortune 500 company, and ranked number 14 on the list of America’s most powerful businesswomen of 2012 by Fortune magazine, Mayer plans to overhaul Yahoo! In 2013 to make the search engine faster, more personalized and more user friendly. In a interview on the Today show last month, she even compared the changes to that of Facebook.
Hillary Clinton:
If you’re a ‘90s baby, you’ve heard Hillary’s name on TV since you were a kid, but have you ever taken a step back to appreciate what her accomplishments mean for women everywhere? From serving as both the First Lady and an elected State Senator in her own right, to a presidential run in 2008 followed by flying thousands of miles a year as the 67th Secretary of State, Clinton’s laundry list of accomplishments is arguably unparallel. And planning ahead to 2016, could one final push for president be in the cards?
Beyonce Knowles:
2013 has only just begun and it seems Beyonce has come back to the entertainment industry (post baby) with fierce and fabulous vegence! Her 2013 Superbowl halftime performance was more tweeted about than the game itself thanks to her faithful fans in the Beyhive, her documentary “Life is But a Dream” scored HBO higher ratings than any other doc in the network history and her worldwide tour entitled “The Mrs. Carter Show” starts later this month in London. There’s a reason they call her #QUEENBEY.
In addition to these names, don’t forget about the ladies in your life who make your day! Take time to give thanks for all the women in your life; your mom, sister, cousin, friend and anyone else you admire and respect.
In the words of Queen Bey herself, “Who runs the world?”