i’m
pretty sure
you have
s t a r d u s t
running
through
those
v e i n s
– women are some kind of magic

Amanda Lovelace

There’s something about women. Something that keeps us fighting when the battle seems lost, hoping when there seems no room for hope, banding together when the world would tear us apart. This *thing* – this magic – creates a community like no other. A community that means we can ask a stranger for a tampon when we’re caught short. A community that sees us guarding toilet doors with broken locks or holding back one another’s hair when we’ve had one drink too many. A community that embraces everything from complimenting someone you don’t know in the changing room because they’re really rocking that outfit to standing up in a boardroom, on a stage or in government to advocate on behalf of other women, whose voices are ignored.

Society tries to distract us from this sense of community through myriad, conflicting expectations that are layered, one upon another, across our shoulders until it’s hard to know exactly where we stand or who we really are. Expectations on our looks, our behaviour, our lifestyles, our marital and motherhood status, our careers, our interests. It’s a constant battle: trying to figure out how to be yourself and then demanding that self be respected.

There’s also a lot in the world that would have us believe we need to bring each other down or lock each other out in order to get ahead, to secure our own success or happiness. This is a lie. It’s up to us to make the conscious choice, day in, day out, to reinforce that sense of community. It’s up to us to reach out across borders of race, religion, sexuality, gender, disability, age, class, and all those other invisible but detrimental boundaries society uses to try and pen us is, and to open up space, time and opportunity for all.

Our community is powerful. Because women are some kind of magic. So let’s lift each other up.

Here are some things I’m loving this International Women’s Day:

Be a Lady They Said from Paul McLean on Vimeo.