Do We Still Need International Women’s Day?
Love it or loathe it, when the 8th March comes around, you can’t escape the fact that it’s International Women’s Day. The cynics amongst us might decry it as a brand-badging day that does zero to help real life women. Others, that it’s a chance to centre female stories that otherwise get overlooked.
Household asked the women in the agency to share their thoughts, advice and inspiration in order to keep these important conversations going.
Julie Oxberry – CEO and co-founder
Q> Do we even need an IWD?
Julie> IWD was founded to shine a light on the achievements and contributions of women against great odds.
As we grapple with an unforgivable gender pay gap, unspeakable costs of child care, racial and other discriminations, and a host of other barriers, we must continue to raise awareness of the plight of women globally- Denied education, forced into early marriage, maternal mortality, silenced voices.
Shout out to Elnaz Rekabi, Mahsa Amini for their brave actions, and to all the incredible women in every walk of life who show up for those that need them most.
We need collective action beyond the day. If IWD can use these 1,440 minutes to raise awareness then it has earned its place in the final. If not, then sisters are doing it for themselves. And we will!
Michelle Du‑Prât – chief strategy officer and co‑founder
Q> Do we even need an IWD?
Michelle> In one word. YES! Women are still marginalised, experience inequality across the world economically, through lack of education, and through sexism. Women are navigating careers and motherhood. Women suffer from more poverty as a result. Women continue to suffer violence in the home and in the street, with new laws introduced on a daily basis to try to protect them. These are just a few of the reasons why women and all their colourful wins need to be doubly celebrated across the many fields they excel in. They just haven’t had as long to be as good.
Q> What are the biggest challenges that women face in 2023?
Michelle> Being the best in everything to try to achieve tablestakes and parity. Perfection is impossible and is not the goal. Bringing new ways to influence fields of work that offer innovation and a reframe ways things have always been done is the new opportunity for women, playing to strengths and bringing people along with them. Women supporting and elevating each other. Women continuing to be active in human rights and where choices are being taken away i.e. Roe v. Wade. It is just happening around us.
Q> My girl power icon is…
Michelle> Jennifer Beals in Flashdance. Dancing for your life to inspire passion, energy and possibilities! Oh and… Virginia Woolf – what a pioneer and visionary. There are many others of course…
Zara D’Costa – brand experience strategist
Q> What advice would you give a young woman starting in the industry?
Zara> Believe in yourself and be confident in your ability
Q> My girl power icon is…
Zara> My grandma, she came to this country with nothing and raised four kids by herself. She single-handedly set the standard in my life for hard work, determination and how to care for people.
Phébe Morson – studio manager
Q> What advice would you give a young woman starting in the industry?
Phébe> Be bold, be patient and ask ALL the questions. It’s one of the few industries where we’re surrounded by like-minded people, who are all genuinely interested in the world of design and its quirks. Keeping that inquisitive and curious mind is so important.
Q> What are the biggest challenges that women face in 2023?
Phébe> I really recognise my privileges as a white woman, who has her health and constant support around her. It’s important for us to understand that one woman’s experience is not a unilateral experience for all women. In saying this, the main challenge that comes to mind is Safety. I recognise the continuous challenges women face concerning safety and the limits that come hand in hand with the lack of safety are endless.
Q> My girl power icon is…
Phébe> My mum.
In late 2021 my mum had an unexpected brain aneurysm, resulting in very severe brain damage. She went through five rounds of brain surgery, and we were told the likelihood of survival was low. Over a period of 8 months, she went against all odds, and relearnt how to walk, talk, eat and speak. She was an icon in the rehab facility (And still is!). She never gave up and was so determined. FYI - she was my icon before all of this as well.
Ali Pountney – design associate
Q> Do we even need an IWD?
Ali> I think it has in the past to both raise awareness and empower all the wonderful females. As we are continuing to become more inclusive of non-binary, gender fluid and neutral I think it's important to remember that women are not the only ones in need of this empowerment.
Q> What advice would you give a young woman starting in the industry?
Ali> Go for it! Don’t wait.
Q> What are the biggest challenges that women face in 2023?
Ali> We still have not reached an equality at management levels within creative industries and this needs to change!
Q> My girl power icon is…
Ali> Catherine Cawood from Happy Valley – I’m obsessed. No matter what is thrown her way she is dignified, fair and above all fearless. She is the master of dealing with it when it goes wrong.
Catherine Wright – senior client manager
Q> What advice would you give a young woman starting in the industry?
Catherine> It sounds simple, but be kind, and never be scared to ask questions. Admitting you don’t know something and being actively engaged with learning is a real strength
Q> What are the biggest challenges that women face in 2023?
Catherine> Here in the UK, the huge cost of childcare makes it really hard for women who have or want to have children make financial sense of working. We’re losing SO many talented women from the workforce as childcare disproportionately falls on women vs men. Economically this is a mass loss of skill and only works to widen the gender pay gap and the gender pension gap, whilst simultaneously putting women at risk of losing financial independence. Research shows people are really worried about affording having children, and actually deciding not to have kids, or to have fewer kids due to the crippling cost of childcare.
Miranda Porter – account director
Q> Do we even need an IWD?
Miranda> I don’t actually like it, feels poultry and contrived, especially the UN just announced that gender equality is 300 years away.
Q> What are the biggest challenges that women face in 2023?
Miranda> Women’s rights are being eroded in the biggest democracies on the planet, so maintaining the status quo is our biggest challenge.
Q> My girl power icon is…
Miranda> My mum, she’s brutally good at what she does, and she does it with wit and wisdom.
Also Angela Merkle, Jacinda Ardern – two leaders with a huge amount of compassion, intelligence and grit.
Siu-Lan Choi – ECD
Q> Do we even need an IWD?
Siu-Lan> I always feel a little conflicted about this. I think it’s super important to ensure that women have the opportunities that men do and that anything we can do to celebrate, advocate and bring this agenda to the fore is important. There are too many places in this world that are still far from achieving anything close to gender equality or addressing violence and abuse against women, which for me are the bigger themes of IWD.
Whilst I understand and support IWD, I don’t believe in constantly shouting girl power and ranting about how powerful we are as women. Everyone has their own superpowers, whether you are man, woman or gender neutral, and we should all be encouraged to be our best without the barriers and division.
Q> What advice would you give a young woman starting in the industry?
Siu-Lan> We should approach life and work with an empathy that brings out the best in ourselves and others.
I think gen z actually have this down. Young women starting in the industry now don’t need advice about being a woman. They are unapologetically themselves whist empathetic enough to embrace others.
Karen Richardson - EA to the directors
Q> What are the biggest challenges that women face in 2023?
Karen> Staying safe and aware, without feeling like it’s a compromise.
Q> My girl power icon is…
Karen> Angela Hartnett, a Michelin Star, an MBE, an incredible career in a tough industry. I see her as a successful businesswoman, a creative talent, a hard worker, a woman who has successfully navigated professional and family life, doing what she loves. And she loves dogs too.
Elisa Barnard – senior marketing manager
Q> Do we even need an IWD?
Elisa> I was a teenager in the 'lads mag' heyday of the early noughties. Christina, Britney, Jordan. Women pitted against women on the covers of magazines, too fat, too loud, too much cellulite, too many boyfriends, such a “know it all”. The idea that there would someday be a day where women could celebrate everything that makes us awesome would have been too much for 15 year old me to handle.
I am still working hard to un-learn everything the media taught me in that time, and the cynic in me knows a 'girl power' T-shirt sold to us in March won’t fix much, but the conversations happening now about real women’s issues are always inspiring.
Q> What is the greatest piece of advice you’ve been given?
Elisa> F*** diet culture, eat dessert.
