March 8, 2020

The Future is Female

We’ve come a long way, ladies but there’s still room for improvement. The future is female!

This year’s theme for International Women's Day  is,

I am Generation Equality: Realizing Women's Rights.

The theme is in alignment with UN Women's new multigenerational campaign, Generation Equality.

The color Purple is the internationally recognized color to symbolize women while the combination of the colors green, purple and white is meant to represent women's equality, according to the IWD website.

Purple, or the combination of those colors, may be displayed to celebrate International Women's Day.

The hashtag is #BeBoldForChange.

How should we celebrate this day, you may wonder? Here are a couple of cool ideas how to celebrate and support women and not just on International Women’s Day. Make it a habit!

>Celebrate Women in Film

The Women and Hollywood website is a great way to start. Women and Hollywood educates, advocates, and agitates for gender diversity and inclusion in Hollywood and the global film industry. The site was founded in 2007 by Melissa Silverstein.

On a daily basis, Women and Hollywood sets the standard, defines the conversation, fuels coverage, and reinforces messages throughout the specialized and mainstream media to call for gender parity.

Women and Hollywood blogs in a unique proactive style to engage filmgoers and filmmakers with news and information highlighting women filmmakers and agitates for increased opportunities for women.

Here is a list of thought-provoking films by women concerned with feminism and women’s issues as published by Women and Hollywood.

• We should all be feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. 

• Unlock the intelligence, passion, greatness of girls by Leymah Gbowee.

• Color blind or color brave? By Mellody Hobson.

• The dangerous ways ads see women by Jean Kilbourne.

• The price of shame by Monica Lewinsky.

Visit the Women and Hollywood website here and consider supporting them with a donation https://womenandhollywood.com

>Support A Female-Run and Founded Film Festival

On the subject of women and film, the Greenwich International Film Festival was founded and is run by three amazing females, Chairwoman Wendy Stapleton, Director of Programming Colleen deVeer and Executive Director/COO Ginger Stickel. The GIFF is a 501(c) 3 non-profit organization. You can support the festival by either becoming a sponsor, purchasing a festival pass or individual tickets or by making a tax-deductible donation here http://www.greenwichfilm.org/2020events/

The festival will take place from April 30, to May 3, 2020 in Greenwich, CT.

>Support a Female Author

Purchase their books, write a review if you liked it and share it on social media. You don’t have to be a savvy writer, a couple of sentences about how and why you enjoyed the book and recommend it will do.

If you’re looking for a recommendation for a new book to read, I suggest you consider the just published “Daring To Live” by Sheri Hunter. An amazing story of grief, friendship, and faith. The author tells her true-life story of the sudden death of her husband and how she overcame the grief and got out of depression when her girlfriends took her on exhilarating adventures. The book has already been optioned to be adapted into a film.

Another amazing non-fiction female-centered inspirational book published by Rebel Girls is about the Nobel Peace Prize-winning activist and environmentalist Dr. Wangari Maathai in Dr. Wangari Maathai Plants a Forest. Complete with beautiful illustrations and educational activities demonstrating the importance of caring for the natural environment, this book challenges young readers to start their own movement.

>Support a Female Business Owner

Purchase their products or services or recommend them to friends and family members and give their company a shoutout on social media.

Having said that, here is my support for the female-owned fashion label AYSHA NY, owned by my friend Aysha Saeed.

Website: https://ayshany.com

These are just a few ideas to get you started with women supporting women. I’m sure you get the idea and you may have your own ideas, too. Here’s to awesome women and those who support them.

Always remember, we are not here to compete with each other. We all will make it if we support each other.

Happy International Women’s Day.

Karynne Summars /// Editor-in-Chief