International Woman's Day – What it means to me

International Woman's Day – What it means to me

When I was younger, probably around the age of 18 my grandmother, who I was extremely close to and had a lot of respect for, asked me if I had voted in the General Election. In hindsight answering no, because all the political parties seemed the same and were a bit boring, was probably not the best response. What promptly followed was a large degree of outrage from said non-plussed granny, and a lecture on how women a few decades earlier had fought (literally) to give me the right to have a say in my future. I never made that mistake again, and proudly do register my vote every time there is a General Election.

On a wider, day-to-day note, I have a lot to thank those early foot soldiers of the feminist movement for. Don’t get me wrong – I don’t consider myself a feminist (I think there is still a lot to be said for men being chivalrous), but I must thank those ladies for the opportunities that they helped open for me.  If they hadn’t have fought the good fight perhaps my life would be very different today. I am very proud of the career I have forged myself, happy for the opportunities that I have been given, passionate about my role as wife and mother in my wonderful family unit. I only hope that my 3 year old little girl (and one more on the way) grow up to see that they can be whatever they want to be as long as they work hard for it, and retain their integrity.

We are very lucky in the United Kingdom – women largely have the ability to choose what they want in life – be it children, a career, to be the eternally single party girl around town. Sure, there’s always room for more equality in terms of pay, progression, etc (not hinting to my bosses of course J), but generally speaking we have freedom. There are still areas in the world where sadly women do not have this basic human right and that is why it’s important we celebrate the progress that has been made, but also to continue to push for greater equality for others globally. On that final note, if you haven’t already and you want to make your voice heard, you can make your pledge for parity at http://www.internationalwomensday.com/Pledge

Helen Day Head of Customer Service Management