International Women’s Day is a day that celebrates the achievements of women. CHEERS TO THAT. Open a bottle of celebratory champagne with a sword because you’re a badass. (perhaps watch the video first.) Then, say cheers to women supporting women. Celebrate, celebrate, celebrate women’s achievements on International Women’s Day and every other day of the year.
Cheers to International Women’s Day
Not surprisingly, we can cheers with champagne thanks to an innovative woman. Modern day champagne making standards were the innovations of Madame Clicquot in the 1800s, who took over the family wine business at 27 when her husband unexpectedly passed away.
March 8
is International Women’s Day
19%
of United States Senators are women
79
the number of women promoted to manager for every 100 men promoted
via the 2018 Women in the Workplace study
Brave, Not Perfect
Brave, Not Perfect: Fear Less, Fail More, and Live Bolder by the Founder and CEO of Girls Who Code, Reshma Saujani, is a great read for any woman who has ever wondered why the fear of failure can be all-consuming. This fascinating read points out the obvious. Adults praise girls for good behavior and boys for exploring. Reshma Saujani certainly makes the case for encouraging girls to play fearlessly on playgrounds and to engage in risky behavior, which builds courage.
She addresses how women can be critical, how off-handed comments like “she should not be wearing that!” or “I wish I looked like that in jeans,” from their mothers shape their perceptions of beauty – and where they fall on the spectrum. Boys hear more praise for effort, persistence, and trying new things – not just the outcome. However, it’s not all doom and gloom. She provides excellent tips for overcoming the unattainable pedestal of perfectionism and happy success stories from the young girls learning to code in her program.
Saujani writes, “boys are taught be brave, while girls are taught to be perfect. Rewarded for perfection from the time we’re young, we grow up to be women who are terrified to fail. We don’t take risks in our personal and professional lives because we fear that we’ll be judged, embarrassed, discredited, ostracized, or fired if get it wrong. We hold ourselves back, consciously or unconsciously, from trying anything that we’re not certain we’ll ace to avoid the potential pain and humiliation.”
Any success story is riddled with failures. Failure is part of the path to success. The ones that overcome the failures and keep trying ultimately end up at the top.
The lesson we need to teach our daughters – AND OURSELVES – is that failure is not a bad thing. Failure is just one of the steps to reaching your goals. Fail. Brush yourself off. Try again. Fail, try harder. Being curious and tenacious and creative and trying again in a different way… that’s what we should be rewarding.
support women-owned companies like copper tops, which makes pretty wine bottle wraps
“Women belong in all places where decisions are being made.”
-RBG
To do list on International Women’s Day
- Call a woman you admire today. Tell her why she’s inspired you.
- Get the word out to women you admire that they are awesome: send a text, handwritten note, facebook post, or email telling a woman why you admire her.
- Share women who inspire you on social media.
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