Celebrating the strength of women 2021
Celebrating the strength of women
National Women's Day in South Africa is a powerful day for equal rights
In South Africa, August is Women’s Month - and each year August 9th is celebrated as Women’s Day.
Women's Day celebrates the strength and resilience of women and their contribution to society and country.
Women's Day forms part of South Africa's Women's Month which provides an opportunity to pay tribute to the generations of women whose struggles laid the foundations for the progress made in empowering women and achieving gender equality to date.
In the wake of the pandemic and growing social unrest, we are facing unprecedented challenges and uncertainty. It is a time that requires us to draw from our deepest reserves of strength and resilience, not just to be able to face our own personal challenges but also so that we find the energy and fortitude to help others and create the change we want to see in the world.
Lessons in strength and resilience from remarkable women
1. Tap into your courage
“I would encourage us to try our best to develop courage. It’s the most important of all the virtues, because without courage, you can’t practice any other virtue consistently. You can be anything erratically—kind, fair, true, generous, all that. But to be that thing time after time, you need courage.” - Maya Angelou
2. Hold onto hope
“People should never give up—there is always hope…. If we all give up hope and do nothing, then indeed there is no hope. It will be helped by all of us taking action of some sort. Cumulatively, our small decisions, choices, and actions make a very big difference.” - Jane Goodall
3. Let yourself feel fear
“Being brave is not being unafraid but feeling the fear and doing it anyway. When you feel fear, try using it as a signal that something really important is about to happen.” - Gloria Steinem
4. Join forces with other women
“Sisters: talk to each other, be connected and informed, form women’s circles, share your stories, work together, and take risks. Together we are invincible.” - Isabel Allende
5. Be optimistic
“You have to stay optimistic. You do sometimes feel very discouraged, but it’s also very important to remain optimistic and to see the silver lining in everything you do. Sometimes things look difficult, like there is no hope, but there is always a small glimmering of silver lining that is in everything.” - Wangari Maathai
6. Lift up marginalized voices
“Women view power differently. It’s not power over; it’s power with. It’s about empowering others. It’s not hierarchical; it’s circular.” - Jane Fonda
7. Speak out
“It took me quite a long time to develop a voice, and now that I have it, I am not going to be silent.” - Madeleine Albright
8. Take action to create change
“Take the tools and the skills and the resources of every kind that you have and go out, find something that you know is not fair, is not just, and begin to change it. In whatever way you know, in whatever way is appropriate for you, but don’t ignore it. Don’t think it’s somebody else’s job to change it. Confront it in your own way, and make it your job to make change.” - Anita Hill
9. Don’t be afraid to take risks and fail
“How have [my successes and failures] taught me? They are me. All my failures and all my successes as a mother and as a daughter and as a professional are me. I am a reflection of all of it. I reach out and sometimes I succeed and sometimes I fail. If I fail or get hurt, I pick myself up.” - SALLY FIELD
10. Be authentic and vulnerable
“Be your authentic self. Authenticity is everything. Think of what you have to offer and how unique that is.” - Nancy Pelosi
11. Live in the present moment
“It’s a courageous act to just be with whatever is happening at the moment—all of it, the difficult as well as the wonderful.” - Eileen Fisher
12. Trust that you will come out stronger
“Look what you’ve already come through! Don’t deny it. You’ve already come through some things that are very painful. You have gone through some pain; it cost you something, and you’ve come through it. So at least look at that. Have the sense to look at yourself and say, ‘Well, wait a minute. I’m stronger than I thought I was.’” - maya Angelou
