This month’s theme is all about women as it is International Women’s day on the 8th March! In this post I’m going to talk about all the great things women have done, all the horrible women have had to deal with and of course being a feminist! The exact definition of feminism is this: the advocacy of women’s rights on the ground of the equality of the sexes. So to anyone out there who believes that feminists want to be the superior sex, we don’t! Women or men can be a feminist after all we’re fighting for equal rights !

Talking about feminism is a controversial subject. There are people who pull a face as soon as the word is mentioned or some will want to talk about the subject for days. I’ve met people who have said “what’s good about being a girl?” and in that moment all I wanted to do was list good reasons. But then I don’t. I get too afraid to speak about a subject I am passionate about in fear that people will judge and say horrible things to me. I realise that it’s not right. Many feminists out there all have something in common, speaking out and educating people. I want to do that. One day I want to shut down all those negative comments that have been said about feminism until it’s in the past. So that one day it will be a default that women will be treated the same as men. There won’t be any issues about having different pay or as someone who shouldn’t work. One day I hope that this will never be a problem. But for this to happen, people like me need to speak out. I want people to appreciate us more because after all they wouldn’t be in this world if it were not for us.

Numerous of times women have made history and never got the credit at all! I hear a lot of people talk about how bad society is today and to be honest, it depends what we’re talking about and maybe I’ll agree. What we don’t realise is how lucky we are that women are finally getting recognition for their hard work. We still have a lot to work on but there’s always room for improvement. Many men have taken credit for a woman’s idea and it isn’t right. I could list examples such as Rosalind Franklin; she discovered there were two forms of DNA. Her photograph was taken without permission and two men named James Watson and Francis Crick used her findings of the basis of DNA and ended up winning a Nobel Peace Prize, four years after she had died. It’s sad really as they get the recognition after they have died.

Every day we have to deal with comments such as smile more. Women need to smile more and they shouldn’t act anything but happy, it’s not ladylike. To the people who have said that, realise that in the end we are human! If I’m having a bad day let me be! If I have the urge to act moody for the day, let me be! We have to deal with sexist comments like “Don’t be such a girl” because apparently we are all weak and we must “man up” as men are stronger and know best. These phrases affect girls and boys. Boys are seen as weak if they do something as horrific like crying and girls are told to act more like a man but why act like someone else when you’re stronger embracing who you really are?

What’s not fair is that we don’t get the same pay as men. We could be doing the exact same job they are yet we still don’t get paid enough. For every hour we work, women earn 81p of every pound earned by men. So in total, women earn 52% of what men do every year. If you ask me, that’s bloody ridiculous. The only way I see this changing is if we let our voices be heard.

We can do this. If we set our minds to it, we are capable of anything. So join me and together we can fight for what is rightfully ours. It could even be something as small as standing up for yourself when people insult you. It’s going to be hard, of course. But maybe a small task like that can help change the world.