What is Women's Day really? Do you know?

One of the things that really gets Godmother and I excited about our business, is getting the opportunity to address women at many fantastic events, especially around this time of the year. Our social calendars are jam packed this August with speaking engagements for Women's Day and Month celebrations.

We get invited to speak at all sorts of events, from groups of Doctors, to Corporate Banking Groups to Hospitals, you name it. This morning we had the pleasure of addressing a large group of women from the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Hospital in Mount Edgecombe! And I was truly inspired.

What struck me most was this...

At most of the events we attend and speak at, the focus for woman's day is fun and frivolous and often just about the day off or the afternoon off. Very little thought is actually given to why we celebrate Women's Day when we do and what the real meaning of it is.

So here, if you, like me, need reminding from time to time, is the real meaning of Women's Day...

• Not that long ago, not only could women not vote, but they needed letters of permission from their husbands, or fathers, or brothers, before being employed!!! Picture that!!! Crazy!!!
• Many of us, too young to have witnessed these times or lived them ourselves, can almost not fathom what that must have been like! We live in a generation of liberated, powerful, independent women. There are very few boundaries left that have not been removed by a woman who walked before us. We own businesses now, we vote, we address groups of men to educate them, we have male subordinates, we take responsibility for our own sexual, financial and spiritual well being. We are women! And most of us think we're pretty awesome...
• It was only 53 years ago (9 August 1956) that 20 000 women marched on the Union Buildings in Pretoria and said to the world, we are women, we are powerful, hear us! They were protesting the pass laws! They were not allowed freedom of movement that we so take for granted today! Those were women! How can we ever compare?
• Women are amazing creatures! Look at how far we have come!

Happy Women's Month ladies! Every single one of you is amazing and we all follow in the footsteps of some amazing women who walked before us. What a history we have, our South African women, more than anywhere else in the world are even more poised to achieve incredible things, given our history.

Go girls!