International Women’s Day

The sharp inhalation of breath that too frequently follows a declaration of being a feminist is one which, for me, has become all too familiar. And one that could very well prompt a similar reaction by opening this article with such an admission by invoking fear of an oncoming feminist polemic.

Fear not, this will not be a polemic.

But even in our society, it seems any female voice which braves to speak about what it is to be a woman – the good and the bad – is still seen as subscribing to a political ideology rather than just exercising her voice! Ok…a tad polemic  (and an almost direct quotation from one of my many university essays) but living in London, a city as diverse in its people as it is in its political opinions, it seems all the more important to find a unified voice. And what better day to do so than on International Women’s Day, which is today, and on its one hundredth anniversary nonetheless.

Since March 1911, women around the world have come together on March 8 in a day of global celebration merging the many diverse cultures that decorate the world and uniting them by the one thing that ties 50 per cent of the population together – being a woman.

For 100 years, International Women’s Day has been the day where a woman’s voice rings out that bit louder and this year, in homage to those women who marched through Europe on the first IWD in 1911 for their right to vote, work and hold office, ActionAid are launching a new campaign, encouraging us all to Get Lippy.

As part of their ongoing work to help eradicate poverty, ActionAid’s latest campaign proves that silencing women is not just detrimental to equality but that the unjust treatment of women can create poverty as a result of barriers placed on education, lack of adequate maternal healthcare and a lack of a political voice.

Silence is one of the most damaging obstacles in any campaign for equality but with Get Lippy, backed by celebrated photographer Rankin and the likes of Joanna Lumley, Annie Mac and Kathy Burke, there is no danger of tight-lipped women here.

Yes we like to talk about shoes and boys and our hair, but we also like to talk about what it truly means to be a woman without fear of judgement, something we often take for granted.

Get Lippy hopes to deliver messages of support to the thousands of women living in poverty and inequality around the world and also offer some feminine insight into the high and lows of being a woman. A simple enough idea but one that will also create a unified voice that will speak out as far into the next century as those first women’s voices that sounded out against inequality in 1911.

Get Lippy this International Women’s Day and add your voice on:www.actionaid.org.uk/iwd

Check out the video of Rankin’s photo shoot and hear what it means to be a woman for ActionAid’s celebrity voices: