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A note to my daughters on International Women’s Day

I’m late to this day, I know. I mean, I knew that International Women’s Day was coming up (all thanks to the Bluey family planner hanging in the kitchen; no credit to me), but it didn’t dawn on me that it was today today until I saw others talking about it.

This is what happens when you live your life within two different eat-play-(eat-eat)-sleep routines of two small people. Weekdays don’t even register, let alone Important International Days. When is Easter again? 

Anyway, today is a day to acknowledge women. To acknowledge how amazing women are and to also acknowledge how much further the world has to go to give women equality. I’m going to keep this brief, because there are countless more articulate words spoken by clever and important people out there to read. I basically just wanted to write a small something for my daughters.

So, for my small humans on this International Women’s Day:

You both came into this world with a roar. You are both happy and sad and loving and impatient and empathetic and strong and smart and silly and bold and angry and funny and kind and determined.

One of my greatest wishes is that you always allow yourselves to feel all of your emotions and to have the courage to be heard.

Especially when the world says you shouldn’t. And especially especially when the world tries to diminish your emotions with the seemingly synonymous labels of “feminine” or “weak”.

I hope that as you both grow up, right into old age, that you can still be unapologetically happy and sad and angry and kind and sensitive and loud, and whatever other things you end up being. That you can allow yourselves to feel the full spectrum of what it means to be a person, knowing that this isn’t a weakness, but rather a power.

Don’t allow anyone to cage you in a box of just being nice. Or agreeable. Or polite. Or overly tolerant.

You can be those things if you want, but you can be so much more too. Because you aren’t just a photo or a number or a daughter or someday, someone’s partner. You’re three dimensional human beings with whole worlds within.

I hope that throughout your lives, that you will use your privileges to make sure other women are heard. When you take a step forward, push back against the encroaching wall of “no”’s coming from the insecure and hateful, so that other women can step forward and shout out to the world too.

In short, keep on being you. Keep on having the big feelings without toning them down or sweeping them under the rug. Honour them and use the fire of these feelings to fuel conversations and discussions and protests and rebellions when the world says, “a woman can’t”.

Turn up and show them that, in fact, a woman can.

And if someone ever complains that you’re too much, good. That means you’re on the right track.

Keep on being all the things that women are told they aren’t allowed to be from the moment they take their first breath.

Love,

Your mum.

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