101 International Women's Days closer to equality?

Lady Godiva as depicted by Pre-Raphaelite artist John Collier (1898)

When Lady Godiva rode naked on horseback through Coventry during the 11th century in protest of her husband's taxes on the townsfolk, she probably had no idea that she delivered one of the greatest acts of feminism in history, to be celebrated 10 centuries later.



Congratulations women! We will officially be celebrating the 101st International Women's Day this Thursday, to mark the progress we've made over the years in securing the right to work, to vote, to an education, and the right to be simply treated as equal to men.


Joan of Arc, Hua Mulan, Simone de Beauvoir, Marie Curie, Mary Wollstonecraft, the Suffragette mum from Mary Poppins... the list goes on, yet if any of these women were still around (real or fictional) they would see that despite their efforts, equality for women still has a long way to go.


Last August, PR agency Kindred were hired to construct a campaign for the Chartered Management Institute (CMI)on the gender pay gap. Their results were shocking.

A man is still paid £10, 546 more than a woman for the same job. This is an average, according to PR Week. So this does not take into account anything above this level of discrepancy. In 2012.


I've never thought of myself as a feminist, as the word can be so loosely defined and loaded with various meanings, and it would suggest that I am a little bit Germaine Greer, which I guess I'm not. Having said this, I was brought up in a single parent family by my mother, who did a kick-ass job raising two kids and then went on to put them both through private education/higher education rather successfully, if I do dare to say so myself.


The idea of feminism then, I guess, has been playing on my mind. This time last year I was sat with women who had no idea that their survival instinct gave way to actions with huge connotations to the role of women in Nepal. These women became breadwinners and spokespeople in their communities when faced with adversity. These women were so strong, I never questioned for a moment that their gender might be an issue.


It's hard for me to explain to someone I meet now in the UK how  that tiny, rural, and mostly illiterate village in Nepal could teach some City CEOs and Directors a thing or two about equality and politics in the workplace. 


After I read the PR Week article, I asked myself what Rekha and Gita would think if a man in their village was paid twice the amount they were paid for a hand-reared piglet, just because he was a man.


I could imagine that the statement would be met with laughter, followed by anger, followed by action. In my head, I see the two women marching up to the imaginary buyer of the piglet, and asking for what is rightfully theirs.


Now wouldn't the world be a better place if all women could do exactly this, without the hypocrisy and hurdles presented to them each time they want to challenge their bosses for inequality in the workplace?


[Find out more about International Women's Day here, and join the likes of Annie Lennox and Emeli Sande at Southbank this Friday to celebrate equal rights.]