International Women's Day!

International Women’s Day!

International Women’s Day took place on Tuesday 8^th March. The International Women’s Day website has used the #PledgeForParity to campaign for ‘gender balanced leaderships’. Worldwide, women continue to contribute to social, economic, cultural and political achievement. The website has proclaimed that ‘Each of us can be a leader within our own spheres of influence and commit to take pragmatic action to accelerate gender parity.’

Since launching this fortnight, over 70,000 people have pledged on the International Women’s Day website. You can share the #PledgeForParity with colleagues, friends and followers.

Celebrities such as Emma Watson, Victoria Beckham, Donatella Versace and Chris Hemsworth got involved on social media by posting supportive images or advice for women of our generation to aspire to.

Kim Kardashian-West posted a controversial nude selfie on Instagram but despite having over 1.5 million likes, many disagreed with this post’s morals.

Some believe that it was an act of feminism but others believe it was quite the opposite. Bette Midler and Chloe Grace Moretz voiced their opinions towards the image on twitter. Chloe posted ‘@KimKardashian I truly hope you realize  how important setting goals are for young women, teaching them we have so much more to offer than just our bodies.’

Bette Midler posted saying ‘Kim Kardashian posted a nude selfie today. If she wants us to see a part of her we’ve never seen, she’s gonna have to swallow the camera.’  Both of these messages sparked a response from the reality TV star as she defended her intentions.

However, celebrities such as Bella Thorne tweeted in support saying, ‘I think every woman should be allowed to make their OWN bodies….and it’s not our place to tell them what they can and can’t do with their body.’  The mother of two was also supported my model Emily Ratajkowski and young feminist celebrity of the year, Rowan Blanchard.

Actor Chris Hemsworth also posted on instagram saying '....Happy #internationalwomensday to my mum, daughter, wife and all the incredible women out there.'

Here in Maghull, we have inspiring women of our own. Amy, currently in sixth form, has played for England in Table Tennis. Recently, she gained a silver medal in the County Championships for Lancashire. Amy has being playing since she was just 8 years old and has competed in many competitions. On the subject of International Women's Day, we asked her about how other girls can be encouraged in sport. She said that "In  the Table Tennis competitions, there are the top thirty-two boys but only the top sixteen girls. I think this clearly shows that there is still some unfairness in sport but I think that there are plenty of female role models in sport that we should look up to and that can be really encouraging."

Amy (third from right) at the Championships.

 International Women's Day is a big step towards the equality of genders and many people support it. Please remember to post the #PledgeForParity and join the Campaign for women's rights today!

By Anisa , Molly and Oleena