The theme of International Women’s Day (and therefore the month as far as I’m concerned), is Choose to Challenge. The website tagline reads “A challenged world is an alert world and from challenge comes change”. The second part of this sentence has always rang true to me- challenges create grit and determination and creative thinking, all of which prompt some kind of necessary evolution and transformation that help you overcome the obstacle and prepare for the next stage and the fresh challenges it will inevitably bring.The relationship between challenge and change is familiar to me but the idea that “a challenged world is an alert world” was something I hadn’t spent much time thinking about. Like most other people, I am quite aware of the challenges I face and what I’ve learned to do to tackle them. My world, my problems. What I hadn’t considered was what impact personal challenges can have on the ability to see and recognize the challenges others face.
Women have made amazing and giant strides in every level of societies all over the world. These successes have been hard fought, bit by bit, and they have been earned. But they have not been done in a vacuum and they haven’t been done by women alone. As we continue to march and fight and whittle down the list of “firsts”, women have the opportunity, and I would argue responsibility, to promote a new and higher standard of leadership. As women progress in the world, we can allow the challenges that we encounter as a collective and as individuals to alert us to other challenges and obstacles that exist in the world. As we progress we must broaden the tent and pull others up with us; as we find more opportunities, we must create and expand opportunities for others. Women’s issues should seek to empower instead of marginalizing other minority populations; our victories must not come at the expense of those with more and greater challenges than our own.
This Women’s History Month, let’s allow the challenges that women face to be an alert to the broader opportunities for positive change that are at our doorsteps. The fight is not over and the road is long. But we have made great strides and great change and we can use that to make great change for others: for people of color, people with disabilities, the LGBTQ+ community, the trans community, and all those struggling to earn a living wage. The future is female and the future looks more diverse than ever. –KC Marold, National Sales & Marketing Manager