International Women's Day - what we get vs what we need

For me (and probably there are more of us) International Women's Day is a blend of celebration and frustration.

Everywhere I look, there are IWD promotions for beauty products, "self-care" SPA offers, commercials that stereotype men as clueless gift-givers and women coming to their rescue with a suggestion for a perfect gift (jewelry). Some good old pinkwashing.

It's exhausting.

Similarly, within organizations, we’ll see today initiatives like yoga sessions, healthy snacks and webinars on self-confidence – in some cases a lot of smoke screens and once the day is over, it's back to business as usual.

Let me be clear: I don't dismiss these initiatives - who wouldn't appreciate a panel on men's allyship? I know I would, a lot! They are all important and serve for raising awareness, recognition, support.

They just aren’t what we actually NEED as a permanent foundation to advance equality.

As the confetti from March 8th settles, let’s be curious what picture emerges and let’s check how our organizations truly progress in the eight areas, that I mention in today’s video, that actually advance women.

How can we transform the momentum of International Women's Day into sustained action and concrete measures for gender equality within our organizations beyond symbolic gestures? What's your take on IWD 2024?
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