How To Support Women This International Women's Day and Beyond

By Jody Bell

March 8th is International Women’s Day — a day of reflection. We celebrate how many barriers we have overcome in our fight for equality, while also recognize the tremendous amount of work that still needs to be done.

However you’re choosing to celebrate — whether its attending Girls With Impact’s International Women’s Day Concert, or connecting with your female friends/family — we believe it’s important to set goals to continue to uplift women this March and beyond.

Here are 3 ways you can incorporate feminism and female support in your everyday life.

1. Constant Love and Support

When it comes to the treatment of your fellow females, “say something nice or don’t say anything at all” most definitely applies. 

Women have always been treated more harshly than men in regards to judgement. We have seen this in the media constantly judging famous women on how they dress, who they date, how they act in public, while the same level of scrutiny is not seen in descriptions of men. 

Unfortunately, this not only affects the women being judged, but it normalizes this sort of behavior. Many times it is actually women bullying other women in school, friend groups, and even in adulthood, as they were raised with this treatment displayed on TV, magazines, books, and more. 

So, take time to reflect on this; understand you may subconsciously judge women harsher than men ‒ even if you identify as a feminist and female yourself! Try your best to combat this by being almost overly supportive of your fellow females. Compliment them as much as possible ‒ not just on appearances, but also on accomplishments, projects, and things they’re insecure about. Constant love and support is truly the best way to combat a society that has been pitted against women for decades. 

2. Share Your Knowledge

Unfortunately, microaggression and mistreatment may not be evident to all women ‒ even if they are the ones experiencing it. 

For some women, being told that they play sports “pretty well for a girl” may seem like a great compliment! However, for those who have been exposed to the various forms of normalized mistreatment that women experience, they are able to recognize when a comment was said with hints of bias and disrespect. 

If you overhear another woman unknowingly at the receiving end of one of these comments, don’t make a public comment. Instead, find a moment where just the two of you can connect and gently explain to her that those comments might not have been said with the best intentions. Show her some resources where she can further educate herself and offer to have a longer conversation where you can answer her questions and further explore this topic.

Additionally, share opportunities and events that pertain to feminism with your fellow females! This International Women’s Day Girls With Impact is holding a virtual concert that is a blend of education, entertainment, and celebration ‒ share this event and others with your friends to begin to blend together feminism and your social-life. 

3. Support Young Girls 

Young girls’ confidence drops by over 30% between ages 8-14. 

This is a vulnerable time for these young women, and this brief period could affect their mental health and self-esteem for decades. It’s crucial that fellow females uplift and support each other especially during these periods of growth. So, if you have a younger sister, or even younger female friends at your school, place of worship, or sports team, reach out and try to further your connection with them. Offer to grab lunch, help them with their homework, and overall, be a mentor to them. 

Additionally, plenty of female-focused organizations include mentorship programs built within them that form peer networks. If you’re a Girls With Impact graduate student make sure you’ve joined our boardroom so you’re able to join our Teen-CEO mentorship network. This is a great place to meet other woman in business/STEM/entrepreneurship to mentor, ideate, and support one another.

Feminism is not an independent movement and no single person nor organization could single handedly fight for fair and equal treatment. In fact, feminism is a conscious choice that must be made every single day ‒ a choice to be unconditionally uplifting to females. So, this International Women’s Day, take time to reflect and create goals on how you will support your fellow females both now and beyond. 

Jody Bell (19) Girls With Impact’s Chief Editor and a program graduate. Girls With Impact is the nation’s only online, after-school, entrepreneurship program for teen girls, turning them into tomorrow’s business leaders and innovators.