International Women’s Day: Without Them, We Wouldn’t Be Here…
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International Women’s Day: Without Them, We Wouldn’t Be Here…
As the world progresses to Web3.0 at an unprecedented pace, appreciating the path-breaking and revolutionary contributions by women will be relevant enough. Spanning through various spheres of business and commerce, women have proved their worth time and again.
The past few decades have witnessed constant efforts to combat the ‘controlling’ system and alter the entrenched gender-specific practices. Men are beginning to evolve out of their rigid gender identity- being able to feel and express their emotions and find peace and support. Women, on the other hand, are now empowering themselves with a balanced work division, more control over resources, and most importantly equal participation in decision-making.
No wonder women are excelling in the field of their choice- from art and architecture to music and entertainment, science and research, technology and innovation, health and wellness, medicine and commerce, naming just a few- almost every vertical is expanding to new horizons with the emergence of feminism into it.
Taking a look at the deep ocean of contributions by women
It can never be enough to celebrate the true spirit of feminism- the one that created the very concept of ‘life’. Nevertheless, the world is being increasingly influenced by powerful women. Angela Dorothea Merkel is a German retired politician and scientist who served as the chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021. Serving for more than a decade, Merkel steered Germany safely through the times of recession, and other turmoil.
Besides those holding an office of power, like Kamala Harris and Christine Lagarde (President of the European Central Bank), Samia Suluhu Hassan (Tanzania’s President), and Jacinda Ardern (Prime Minister of New Zealand), women are equally successful in business and commerce.
These women are rewriting the rules of politics, finance, and business. Rosalind Brewer is currently running an S&P 500 company Walgreens, after serving as Starbucks COO. Özlem Türeci is an immunologist and cofounder of BioNTech. Her prominent role in the development of the mRNA COVID vaccine (in partnership with Pfizer) will be remembered for generations to come. Their work of redemption is the need of the hour, even more than ever.
Nobel Prize winner and researcher Marie Curie (for discovering radioactivity) was one of the women who, and Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna had won Nobel Prize in Chemistry for discovering CRISPR-Cas9 genetic scissors. They exemplify that women find success even while battling the challenges on multiple fronts.
Events like the Olympics are also seeing a significant rise in participation by women, especially in challenging areas like Malak Abdelshafi (a Paralympic swimming champion from Egypt), Kathely Rosa (an aspiring soccer coach from Brazil), Anita Karim (Pakistan’s first professional mixed martial arts fighter), Khadija Timera (a lawyer and boxer from Senegal), and many more. The world is very well aware of the success story of the Williams sisters (Serena Williams and Venus Williams).
Media and Entertainment is another avenue with the ingression of femininity. Patty Jenkins, Reese Witherspoon are some of the names who have made their mark on the foundations of their powerful philosophy and ethics. Journalism and the fashion industry are the other spheres where women have proved their worth, even better than men.
Women like Dr Fei-Fei Li (ImageNet project), Wolfe Herd (Bumble), and Hedy Lamarr (Wireless Visionary) have shown the world that technology and innovation is not just a thing for men. Women are equally competent in the field, and sometimes do even better.
Health and Wellness have been an area where women have had expertise over the centuries. Referring to history, Buddha’s wife (Yashodhara) is believed to have a major impact on his wellbeing and mindfulness, and his subsequent quest for world peace and enlightenment.
International Women’s Day defines a true celebration of femininity
Though under society inhibitions and mindsets for over various centuries, women have come a long way, overcoming the battles and challenges, emerging out as being close to ‘superhuman’. Managing well with their career, family and other responsibilities, and setting up examples for society, women need to be lauded. Thus, International Women’s Day stands its relevance in today’s time to appreciate the true sense of ‘feminism’. It's not just good fortune or a position that makes a woman powerful. Strong and revolutionary thoughts, voices, or even methods could also be the ways in which women can make an impact on the present and future of society.
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