#IWD 2023

as #IWD2023 gets a wrap and this is apparently-too-long-for-a-post:

I loved Lucy Kemp 's unfaltering opinion that Women's Day is a load of shit. Same as what Draymon Green said : "But Black History Month? No. Teach my history from January 1 to December 31, and then do it again, and then again, and then again, and then again. That's what I'd like to see."

But I wouldn't do away with International Women's Day. The suffragettes marched for years, decades, centuries - just to have a vote. I bet you every year they picked up their placards it went something like this -

"Anya, what a load of shit this is."

"Totally, Sasha. Shit."

But up they got and to a protest they went. And the march is not over. Once we have equal pay, reproductive rights, equal and liveable parental leave, equal access to education and healthcare - then and only then can you can you just bring me the sweet bunch of flowers.

I don't expect a pat on the back on Women's Day for being a woman. I expect to reflect on what have I done from my position of privilege. What do I have to show for my voice in the past 12 months?

Hearing and reading female founder journeys, trials and tribulations, the daily struggle, like Penny Daniels , remembering the 'Should-I-take-the-plunge?' phone call we had 3 years ago, is deeply powerful. I want to hear it and I want to hear it in one big chorus from the rooftops, in one go, today. As an economist, let's call it a coordination effect.

Mansplaining, micro-aggressions, 'just a joke', well-intentioned colleague reproducing inequalities - no problem. Let's give that private shoulder tap and learn together. Minority politics is a minefield to the best-versed of us, cultural contexts are widely varied, let's not radicalise and turn against each other in the process.

Language is powerful, but so is accountability. Have I been called 'aggressive' when the right word should have been the male-equivalent - 'assertive'? Yes. Have I been called aggressive when I was actually just aggressive and needed to be called out? Hell yes.

BaoY Van Cong , Board Member of Flo Health Inc. sat down with me and people at Flo today to say that you need to really understand your circle before you can disrupt it. My build-upon: you're not going to get what you want just because you want it and you're a woman, or because "being a woman is hard as it is!". Deep competence, work ethic, growth mindset, self-awareness and curiosity get you far in any company I've had the privilege to work in, not because you're a woman, and not despite you being a woman.

Kate Romanovskaia (she/her) called out to fellow sisters today to build a better future for the women after us. I also want to call out to fellow sisters and brothers to build a better future for the men after us, starting with my 3-year-old sons. For them to be in a world where they too can be vulnerable, sad, weak, human, and men. Or women, up to them.

Deep bow of respect and gratitude to people who have lifted me up, called my BS, and made me do everything before I was ready.

Caroline Ann Taylor , Philippa Stokes , John Nolan , Professor Peter Madden, OBE , Naleena Gururani , Jean-Pascal van Overbeke , Andrey Andreev , Idan Wallichman , Miles Norris , Sarah Jones Simmer , Dmitry Gurski , Tamara Orlova , Nick Lisher .