International Women's Day

Happy International Women's Day!!

This is actually the 100-year anniversary of International Women's Day. It was started by the UN in 1911 when women in the Western world were petitioning for their basic political and employment rights. Since then it has become not only a world-wide celebration of half the population of the earth, but also a moment to raise awareness about harassment, lack of education, mal-treatment, and inequality facing women around the world.

I never considered myself a die-hard feminist before, but I have to admit that I don't take lightly any jokes (*hilarious* as they may be...) about the inequality of women (i.e. women belong in the kitchen). As a human, my place in this world should not be dictated by my gender!

Unfortunately, in many parts of the earth, women are treated incredibly differently due to the very fact that they are women! We are still not granted the same pay as men in many countries. We are not given access to education in many countries. We are treated as property, abused as sex workers, unable to attain positions in government, looked down upon, etc.

Why do so many people fail to realize that by neglecting a significant portion of the world's population, we are at once stopping the evolution of a healthy society, but also propagating so many of the world's problems, including hunger, disease, and lack of education.

If women were not treated as objects and given the right to say "No" to unsafe sex in Africa, the spread of HIV would slow down. If women in developing were given the same access to tools and technology as their male counterparts, they could augment the yields on their farms, producing more food for their families and villages.

Think of the most amazing woman you know...times that by several billion...that's the number of amazing women we *could* have on this planet if our world was not so obsessed with having male children that they will throw a female baby in the dumpster rather than give her a life; if our world considered females to have the same rights to an education that we give males; if our world wasn't so caught up with having women be child-care providers and homemakers.

Women are wonderful humans who do wonderful things and none of us would be here if it wasn't for a woman. So make sure to fully appreciate and *show* your appreciation for all the intelligent, talented, beautiful, and under-appreciated women in your life today and every day!