It's 2023 and we still have a long way to go...

It's now been 112 years since the first International Women's Day took place that rallied for women's right to work, vote, hold public office, and?end gender-based discrimination. It's 2023 and we've made some advancements in the last year, but we've also taken steps back in many regards. In 2023, we're still fighting for our rights and we're still fighting for our voices to be heard.

Only 1 year ago, it was found that 32% of Australian men believe that due to feminism, they have lost out politically, economically, and socially. In the same year, 2022, it was found that Australian men are the second highest cohort in believing it’s a women's obligation to have sex with her male partner even when she didn’t feel like it and that gender inequality 'doesn’t really exist'. It has only been 1 month since it was reported that 73% of women around the world have experienced at least one form of online violence including sexual harassment, threats of death or rape, stalking or revenge porn. In 2023, the pink tax is alive and well, it will take Australia 26 years to close the wage gap and there is still an infamously long line for any public female bathroom.

57 years since James Brown sang 'it’s a mans mans mans world'?we have made a little progress in some areas. In the last few months, Australia has introduced landmark legislation in the Respect at Work Bill, increased domestic violence leave, and abolished legal pay secrecy clauses- all things that disproportionally affect women. Although there have been less women win the Australian of the Year award than there have been sports stars, in the last three years we have celebrated both Grace Tame and Taryn Brumfitt for their contribution and work around sexual assault and women's body image. In the last year, we've watched women in Iran lead the fight against a totalitarian government and stand up for women, girls, and people across the country. In 2023, we're seeing more female CEOs lead Fortune 500 companies than ever before, but, in the last year, we have also witnessed women and girls across the USA have less rights to their own bodies than their grandmothers had.

Although there has been some progress, in 2023 we're still not living in a human-centred, co-designed world free from bias, discrimination, and gender roles- we still live in a world designed by men, for men, and run by men. We still live in a world that wants to mark a woman's marital status and signify ownership (cue Ms, Mrs, Miss, and the history of engagement and wedding rings). We still live in a world where spaghetti straps are labeled as distracting in high schools and a world that focuses more on teaching young girls self-defence than teaching kids about consent and abuse. Instead, we still live in a world where we teach women to cover up their bodies… and if they don’t? Well, they asked for it, didn’t they?

Our structure and system needs to be changed for everyone- the men too. It needs to be reconstructed for the men who can't change their kid whilst out in public due to the lack of baby change tables in the men's bathrooms, the boys who get teased in the playground for their favourite colour being pink, and the 1 in 5 men that experience anxiety but are too scared to speak up in case it makes them less 'manly'. Every one of us would benefit from a new system and a new structure - so why aren't we all working together to change it? Why do we still think this is just a women's issue?

62 years since JFK said that we want to send 'a man' to the moon and return 'him' safely to earth, people still question why we have an International Women's Day. The 8th of March is a day to celebrate all women, of all diversities and intersections. It’s a day to celebrate the women of the past, the present, and women of the future. But, it is also a day to shine a spotlight on the inequality, inequity, injustice, and discrimination experienced by women all around the world - even 112 years after the first International Women's Day. We have this day because historically and today in 2023, women face discrimination because they are a woman. We have this day as a reminder of where we have come from and where we want to go. We have this day to shine a spotlight and raise awareness about the ongoing inequity and discrimination that women face.

23 years after boxing was legalised for women in QLD, there has been some change. 6 years after #MeToo gained widespread attention online, we have made some progress. But in 2023, the same year where you're more likely to be called Mike than be a woman in the USA House of Representatives, discrimination and bias is still running rampant in every community and women are still fighting for their voices to be heard. We have made some progress - especially compared to 1911 when the first International Women's Day took place - but we haven't made progress everywhere and for everyone and in every regard. There is still a long, long way to go, and we need everyone's?help, yours included!

So… what can you do today?

Examine yourself, examine your thoughts

• Everyone has biases, whether they would like to admit it or not, our world and society is structured around this - it’s inevitable
• Admit these biases to yourself (and the fact that you have them)- it doesn’t make you a bad person, it just demonstrates?how indoctrinated we are into gender bias, stereotypes etc
• Question your thoughts, question them again
• Ask yourself 'is this respectful?'
• If you feel defensive, ask yourself 'why'?
• Examine the effects that the patriarchy has had on you, how it has benefitted and hindered you
• Reframe ideas around privilege - it is not just about what you’ve been given, but also about what you have not been subjected to

Talk and listen to women

• Talk to the women in your life about their perspective
• Listen to women, hear them, seek their voices - make space for them at the table
• Listen to understand - not to respond or problem solve

Champion women

• Make that referral, buy from that woman-owned business, send your favorite female-led podcast to a friend, and celebrate her last career achievement on LinkedIn

Language

• Pay attention to your language, notice the different language used to describe women and men, girls and boys
• Look out for when your 'gender neutral language' is male-centered

Call out the behavior

• Challenge your friends, your families, your co-workers, and your kids' words, actions, and thinking

Role model to kids

• Show dads doing traditionally female roles in the house and vice versa - mum takes out rubbish, dad does the washing
• Show young girls and boys examples of successful women - women in STEM, women CEOs, women entrepreneurs
• Seek out these role models

Don't be afraid to learn

• We're all learning - women included!
• Ask the questions, seek understanding, and clarify if unsure

There have been some advances in the last year, but in many ways, we have taken steps back and there is a long, long way to go. It's been 112 years since the first International Women's Day, and us women are still celebrating when we find a pair of pants with real and useable pockets - that is absurd.