Today is International Women’s Day. Around the world, people are celebrating the achievements of women and raising awareness about gender inequality and global progress toward equality. This is a day for us to think about the mothers, sisters and daughters in our lives and question our progress, our future and our commitment to gender parity. How can fathers, brothers and sons be included and empowered to support the advancement of gender equality? What’s at stake? Do we see value or care enough to take action?
This is a complicated issue affecting personal lives, the workplace and international relations. International Women’s Day provides a great opportunity for parents to speak to their children about fairness, hard work, respect and opportunity. People can take some time to speak candidly about their thoughts and preconceptions, listen to what others are saying, do a little research and engage in the global conversation taking place.
Au pairs and host families have a special opportunity to have a family conversation to hear firsthand about how this issue is perceived by people from other countries. This sort of dialogue is valuable to cultural exchange and education. These conversations can help shape perspectives and form strategies to improve the outlook on gender parity; instead of achieving gender equality in 2133, perhaps it can be accomplished in the lifetime of someone living today.
What are you doing to engage with the international dialogue on gender parity this International Women’s Day? Please share with us in the comments or connect with us on Facebook. We’d love to hear from you!
