Women's Day: Celebrating the Beauty of Being a Woman
All over the world, women face harassment and violence. I am not going to list them all, but there's more than we can count—and plenty of them happen right there at their own home. To be a woman is to live in a society that reminds you every day that you could be devalued or assaulted because of your gender.
You may have already seen the Google Doodle – a special logo that appears on the search engine’s homepage to mark important and popular occasions. Today is International Women’s Day and it serves as an opportunity to celebrate women all over the world.
So today, we're celebrating women who are standing up for themselves and each other all over the world. We don't always show our appreciation for the amazing women in our lives as often as we should, so today I'm trying my hardest to change that. Because when the world seems like a crazy place, there's nothing more important than remembering that there are good people out there—and reminding them how much they mean to us.
Every day, women all over the world prove that they're capable of incredible things. In the face of bias, gender inequality, and cultural stereotypes that limit how women are "supposed to" be, they defy expectations and go above and beyond.
Happy International Women's Day, ladies!
Today we are celebrating YOU, because you are all incredible.
I am extremely proud to be part of a community that celebrates women as they really are: not just strong and independent, but also compassionate and kind. Women who care about their families, friends, communities, and the world around them are truly amazing—and I to send this message to all amazing women out there: Don't let any bias hold you back from being your best self. You do you—no matter what anyone else says. This is a message of admiration for you: every single one of you is amazing. Every single one of you deserves respect. Every single one of you has something incredible inside that we are lucky to experience in this world. We love your unique brand of strength and smarts, your kindness and courage. From the day you're born, you are strong. You are determined. You are beautiful. You are compassionate. And you are AMAZING.
I am so sorry if the society haven't always treated you as well as we should have; we apologize for our collective actions and for any actions taken by any individual man against you that have made you feel less than incredible in any way. We hope you know how much we respect everything about you and how much we believe in your potential—and more importantly, how much we believe in your present achievements!
I'm sorry the world pressures you into thinking you have to fit a certain mold—be one thing or another, and not both. I'm sorry people make assumptions about who you are just because of your gender. And I'm sorry the world tries to make you feel like you're worth less than everyone else. We should be able to do better for you. We should have been able to protect you from all the things that have happened—all the pain and fear and injustice that has come your way. But we failed, time and time again, because we're weak—and that's on us. We've got a lot of work to do, but I know we can do it if we keep listening to you, keep learning from you, and keep following your lead.
No one deserves to be treated like a lesser human being—and that includes YOU! We want to remind you that we see you, we hear you, and we appreciate everything that makes YOU uniquely YOU! You don't have to meet anyone's expectations of how a woman should look or act or think. You can be whomever and whatever YOU want to be.
I am also sending out a special message to the men out there: respect every woman you encounter, not just the women in your life. Treat her like someone's mother, sister, daughter, or friend. All of them, no matter who they are or where they're from. They deserve it just by being themselves!
I’ve never met a woman who isn’t an impressive human being, and I never will, because in my eyes, every single woman is a superhero. They are all brilliant and beautiful; they are blazing their own trail through the world. And with International Women’s Day this Thursday (March 8), I want us to take some time to say thank you to them all in our own small way.
It's so important for us to take this time to remember that there are so many women out there who are doing incredible things, and who deserve the chance to do even more. We can help by breaking the bias that holds women back from being valued for their skills and experience.
Our society needs to break the bias, to learn how to accept differences instead of being afraid of them. We can promote more women in all aspects of life, we need to show them we are able to do it. We all have a responsibility here and this can be the start with each one of us.
We hear a lot about the bad things that happen to women—we see the statistics and we see the news, and we watch it all happening around us. But I just want to take a moment to remind every women that there are good people out there, too—people who are ready to stand up for you, cheer for you, and support you in any way they can. People who believe in your strength and your courage—people who have seen it with their own eyes, or heard about it from someone else. People who think you're amazing just the way you are.
Women. Without you, life would be nothing. So thank you for everything that you are. Thank you for every single effort that you make each day to improve the world around you. We love you so much.
