by Molly Kerridge
Purple flags decorating the Students’ Union in the celebration of International Women’s Day 2019 at DMU.A university is celebrating the success of women within modern society today with talks from professional women, quizzes and other events running all day.
After the Socialist Party of America introduced the first Women’s Day 110 years ago, it has been celebrated every year, and DMU are joining in with a day full of activities.
Jess Willmott, student, activist and poet, said: “The imbalance comes in the mass phobia of the word ‘feminist’. The way the men in my local pub only cry at football matches because anywhere else they’d be made a fool of.
“I was lucky enough to go through a scholarship with the WE charity last summer and actually stay with the local tribes across Rajasthan. Many girls cannot go to school because they have to get water from a well 30 minutes away.”
Rallies, lectures and protests are taking place all over the world in celebration of women’s rights and the progress that has been made. However, there is still progress to be made.
Jess continued: “Girls in the UK can go to school, study the same subjects, receive the same help. Women haven’t completely broken this glass ceiling, but it’s shattering slowly, cracks letting some women get through to the other side and pull others with them.
“Just the other day, Virgin Atlantic announced it would no longer require female staff to wear makeup on duty. It’s these little things that made a difference, once added up.”
The theme for this year’s celebration is #BalanceForBetter, and the fight to forge a more gender-balanced society, and improve the treatment for women worldwide.
Jess finished with: “We need to stop thinking it’s enough. The political equality is the end all, be all. We need to stop teaching children about equal rights in the past tense.
“We need to work together to identify what we can do globally. We need to support each other, we need to be balanced for each other.”
