International Women's Day...I love being a woman because...

Pencils... there do seem to have been fewer events on IWD this year, but there is MWR in London this weekend, and it was well supported in the USA, again with lots of activities and protests planned this weekend.

Does anybody else think IWD was incredibly low key this year?

I would not have noticed if this thread weren't here.

I'm not sure I would have noticed in other years but I do recall my son in his 4th, 5th and 6th years at school coming home and telling me it was IWD- That was around 10 years ago

Does anybody else think IWD was incredibly low key this year? I work in a field where we get notices through about all sorts of celebrations for every 'day' and 'month' under the sun but I got nothing through for IWD this year. Have there been fewer events than normal?

Lass I think International Women's Day is important for a number of reasons and sadly it still seems necessary to point out that women can do things. There's a lot more to it but off the top of my head see studies such as this: www.theguardian.com/education/2017/jan/26/girls-believe-brilliance-is-a-male-trait-research-into-gender-stereotypes-shows and I recall a documentary by Professor Alice Roberts and some chap last year where a group of girls in a school explained why they couldn't do STEM subjects because they were "too hard" and "boys' subjects". A day which helps raise awareness of say women such as Rosalind Franklin, Ada Lovelace, Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin (to take STEM examples) is unfortunately, in my opinion, important when so many girls are unaware of women who've excelled and feel brilliance is the preserve of boys.

No nothing like that. More subtle, but persistent.

Can you imagine an upbringing where that was constantly emphasised to you from being a small child?

No , frankly I can't other than in the context of some sort of mad, religious fundamentalist way.

"I really don't understand the very negative comments one sees on FWR about being ashamed of one's female body or hating it"

Can you imagine an upbringing where that was constantly emphasised to you from being a small child? Some people will internalise that and find it hard to reject it. Some people are lucky not to have experienced that, or to have a teflon-coated personality where they were able to ignore/reject it.

I can't think of anything specific to being a woman that I love really. Not because I have had a particularly hard time being one (I haven't), but more that I can't really embrace the whole 'celebrate your body' thing

I don't get this either. I really don't understand the very negative comments one sees on FWR about being ashamed of one's female body or hating it but I don't understand the other extreme either

It's the vessel my mind inhabits and it's fit for the purposes I need.

I loved being pregnant but I don't really see that as a big deal either. It's the female body's distinguishing feature - most women can get pregnant and no particular talent is needed.

The only thing I can think of I really hated about being female was breast feeding- what an unmitigated misery that was.

I don't get the sisterhood thing at all. I've met people, men and women, I like and who have been encouraging and helpful. I had teachers who inspired me;I've also met people who were horrible, mean, spiteful and malicious.

I am not sure what the point of International Women's Day is. I definitely see merit in highlighting matters such as lack of education, maternity and contraception rights which need to be addressed. I'm less sure of the merit of pointing out "look women can do things too "

There's nothing I love about being a woman. I mean, I think growing babies is pretty miraculous, but I'd have happily handed that over to their other parent and watched the miracle from a distance

If I could choose, I'd be male instead, though that's clearly impossible.

I don't actively dislike being female, just the crap that comes with it in our society.

I can't answer that as I don't love it. All my life I've felt like I've been doing it wrong and been told so too. Apart from having children the rest has been shit.

Maybe I'm in a bad mood as my oldest asked me why I'm not a real woman like insert another mums name who wears dresses and does feminine things. I'm just sick of all the shit.

Actually, breastfeeding is pretty amazing. For once my body actually does something in an incredibly convenient way. Periods, pregnancy, birth are amazing but messy and flawed processes. Breastfeeding on the other hand.... Genius.

"Men tend to have less flexibility and the expectations on them can be fairly onerous."

Feminism has always argued that the patriarchy harms men too but many men like to lay the blame for their restricted roles at the door of feminism.

Go figure.

DamedeDoubtance I absolutely LOVE that! We are members of the real rebel alliance and you know it

I love being a woman because socially, we generally have more flexibility about certain things. It comes at a price, but I've had several completely different careers, been involved in community work, and spent my time with my children very flexibly. Men tend to have less flexibility and the expectations on them can be fairly onerous.
I'm not in anyway disagreeing with the need for women to fight for equality, in fact this is part of the gender imbalance which needs addressing for the benefit of both men and women.

Dame 😭 He is! Thank you!

Thank you for this thread OP.

I'm also celebrating sisterhood but finding being a woman very difficult lately.

Today I helped a woman take the first steps towards claiming asylum. She was a lesbian who had been correctively raped in her own country. Her story was so harrowing. She can probably never safely go back home.

I don't love being a woman today but I do feel honoured to have had that task on IWD.

Women's day is also a good opportunity to say a massive big thank you to all the brilliant, articulate women who post on here, who have taught me so much

If we could all just unequivocally go 'yay, I love being a woman!' then feminism's work would be done. There has never been an IWD that has not been tinged with sadness, anger and difficulty for so many women. It's important, though, to occasionally stop and celebrate the gains we have made over the years and thank and appreciate each other. Because if we burn out we're no good to anybody.

I'm now going to crack open a beer, listen to and do a jigsaw.

Happy IWD everybody!

Less, it's like being a member of the rebel alliance isn't it!

ispy, I bet youryoungest baby is happy, healthy and growing up in a loving home.

I don't know about loving being a woman but I love being a feminist.

Because I know I'm on the right side.

Birth is it for me really. I have birthed 4 babies and feel it was such a privilege to have been able to do so, as each time was incredible. Nursed 3 out of 4 but my body failed me for my last baby, something I cannot forgive it for sadly.

I loved being pregnant and I loved giving birth, the rest of my life is full of sex neutral things.

I hate the way that I am in an abusive relationship with society, well it feels like that today. I have a daughter who is already having shit thrown at her because of her sex, lots of misogyny and sexist language, porn videos flashed about etc. Or she keeps being questioned if she's a real girl 'cos she likes stuff that other people think you need a penis to like, odd, they obviously haven't tried building lego with a penis.

I LOVE that I'm the same sex as my child, I have her back as much as I can. I knew what it was like when she started her periods. She can see me questioning sexism and even though I can't make it go away she sees me trying every god damn day.

So yeh, female biology is cool and I can understand my daughter better because we are both the same sex.

that's it today.

This week, I am not loving being a woman. I might next week, I'll get back to you.

What I do love is women's friendship, women's care, working with women toward a common goal.

I am extremely lucky in that I have many women friends with whom I share life's inevitable ups and downs. And it's that friendship and sisterhood that I am celebrating today.

I can't think of anything specific to being a woman that I love really. Not because I have had a particularly hard time being one (I haven't), but more that I can't really embrace the whole 'celebrate your body' thing. I love my dc, but I hope I'd love them just as much if I were their father and hadn't given birth to them. Childbirth was ghastly, periods are a pain, large boobs are inconvenient. I don't subscribe to the 'women are bitchy' thing, but neither do I see much evidence of a sisterhood or think that women are generally any more warm-hearted or nice than men. I am a feminist (largely thanks to MN) and raise my dd as one, but for me, part of doing that is recognising how few intrinsic differences there are between men and women, rather than celebrating the things that make us women different iyswim. I think that's why I find some (not all) of the things I read about Women's Day a bit grating. I'd rather be equally treated as a person than celebrated for being a woman.

Sorry PoochSmooch I shouldn't have posted something negative, it was just the "men loving them" thing as it really gets to me (unsolicited comments and leers I find enraging). I agree about loving our bodies and rightfully seeing them as brilliant!

I know what you mean, Amy but just trying to keep it light hearted

I also try very hard to be positive about my body and how great it is - it's the material reality that I get to inhabit, and that other people might objectify it doesn't detract one iota from the fact that it's basically brilliant!

I've been bullied all my life by women. I'm an autistic woman, so very much a third class citizen and generally disliked by my own sex as well as by men. I don't think that being a woman has very much to recommend it and I'm shocked and appalled on a daily basis just by how much men and the establishment hate us. The language and vitriol I encounter on the internet towards feminists beggars belief and, if they stretched their tiny brains just a little bit, perhaps they might actually see why women have such difficulties with men. Do they honestly think that having such an attitude will make us like and respect them at all? Don't they even have mothers and sisters? It's also an endless sadness that so many women around the world are still suffering so much in all kinds of ways.

So, between men oppressing me and women bullying me, I don't have much to celebrate or be happy about as a woman, but I'm happy that I have my dcs and that I'm helping them grow up to be decent people.