Shortly after getting my groceries this past Sunday, I was crossing the street when a man catcalled me from his car window. This didn’t help me feel better about the day before, when I had to report a man in the quiet section of the Seattle Public Library for playing inappropriate videos depicting women being brutally degraded for everyone around him to see. This past Sunday was International Women’s Day, and this weekend reminded me just how much we still need it.
All throughout March leading up to the day, I had been seeing videos on social media recommending that people buy flowers for their girlfriend, wife, mom, or any other meaningful woman in their life for International Women’s Day. I was so happy to see women walking around the city with bouquets of flowers this past Sunday. The trend of buying flowers for women on this day was a lovely and meaningful idea, so it made me curious about what other powerful–and even funny–things the internet had to say about this day.
I loved seeing optimistic and heartwarming content like this celebrating all of the women that make the world so bright. I saw so many posts of people showing love to their friends, mothers, aunts, and other women who make their lives better. Seeing all of this appreciation warmed my heart this past Sunday.
This video tends to resurface every International Women’s Day. It’s from the 2019 Dream Crazier Campaign by Nike and is narrated by Serena Williams. I personally love this video–it does a great job of showing the impossible pressures and standards that women face every day. There are some really cool edits to the voiceover of the original ad, like this one, showing how it applies to women today.
Of course, there were also a lot of powerful feminist posts being shared, especially in the context of the global conflicts going on today. These types of posts do a great job of showing how International Women’s Day is not just a trend, or a day for appreciation, yet it is a day to highlight what more needs to be done in a global context for women and girls all over the world. The conversation among women’s rights on a global scale needs to continue.
This was a really creative post I saw showing how even female animals are the backbone of so many different ecosystems. It was cool to learn from this post that, “Across the natural world, female animals lead, protect, teach, and nurture the next generation. Their roles are vital to the strength and balance of their communities.”
Another great post I saw discussed the unrealistic expectations placed on women to maintain a thin bodytype, and how those expectations are pushed on us from such a young age. It shared several sad, yet believable, statistics. As someone invested in growing muscle in the gym, it makes me upset to see how these incredibly unhealthy standards are pushed upon us.
This post does a really good job of highlighting how this day is for all women. You can’t celebrate only some women, and condemn others for who they are. If you scroll through the photos on this post, it also explains the history of this day and how it was created.
And lastly, a beautiful message to women all around the world.
I will admit, sometimes the internet can get me down. But this International Women’s Day, I saw so many powerful messages being spread on the internet that made me feel a little more optimistic. Happy International Women’s Day to all the strong women out there! Let’s make every day International Women’s Day.