When I was younger (during the last century), I never gave much thought to what I was or wasn’t allowed to do. I thought I had equal rights with the boys I grew up with. However, the reality wasn’t quite that clear cut. There were slight differences that were clear signs; expectations of what I was capable of, differed to my brother. On achieving full colours for a sport, the reward was a new blazer to be worn. Girls wore one that matched the half colours blazers that boys wore. The messaging was that we were half as good; we worked twice as hard but were half as good. And I will call out that this was in a heavily censored, privileged world, so others worked harder for less reward and had many fewer rights.
Roll the clock forward past the indignities of sexual harassment and assault in the workplace, to always being the note taker or tea lady, to a place where I think we can get equal respect, equal pay, and equal acknowledgement for our efforts, in the western world maybe. Well, we certainly scared someone, because as we close in on that utopia of equalness, the world has shifted, and rights are being removed.
I never envisioned a western world when generations after me would have fewer rights, and less of a voice than my generation have. Every one of us needs to stand up and be counted, before our daughters and their daughters go uneducated, and with no rights over their bodies.
So, on IWD2023, think about who has inspired you and why, and what legacy you wish to leave behind.
– Sam, Director Customer Experience.