Women Crucial in Middle East Uprisings

In honor of International Women’s Day, the Girl’s Guide to Swagger gives a shout out to women throughout the Middle East for taking initiative in instrumenting change in their countries.

Whether organizing protests or organizing health services, supporting their children or breaking sexist taboos, women throughout the region have lost their fear in the face of brutality and gained the confidence to topple regimes.

We look forward to supporting the efforts of women throughout the Middle East and Africa to recreate their societies and governments.

Read More…

In Mideast Revolts, Women Emerge as Driving Force - Photo and Article Courtesy of AFP

Happy International Women’s Day.  Look for more blog posts throughout the day.

The Girl’s Guide to Swagger website launch

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

On International Women’s Day, Tuesday, March 8 we will be launching the new Swagger website.  The website contains survey results, stories about confidence, quotes and opportunities to join the Swagger Movement. 

Founder Cindy Brown says, “We are a community of women passionate about building a world of equality and opportunities for all people.  Join our community and add your special gifts and your voice to our effort.”

Cindy lived in Boulder CO for 30 years, where she was the Co-Executive Director for Boulder Housing Partners and an instructor at the University of Colorado.  The idea for The Girl’s Guide to Swagger  arose from her work in male-dominated fields, such as banking, design, and construction.  She had to learn how to be confident when she was the only woman in the room or on the construction site and also how to maintain her authentic voice. She has gathered the stories of other women through interviews and an on-line Swagger survey regarding how they have found their confidence.  Cindy now splits her time between Boulder and Taos NM.

In honor of International Women’s Day, we will be featuring the spread of the Swagger Movement across the globe.

We now have a swagger member in Belgium!  I thought you might like to know a bit about Belgium, so I asked our friend to tell us something about her country – its government, treatment of women at work and in school.

 She says: 

 We’re a very small country, very culturally and linguistically diverse, and partly because of that we’ve always been very progressive (gay marriage and –adoption have been legalized a long time ago, same thing for euthanasia, etc). The backside of this is that the language issue has led to very complex politics…

On the treatment of women, she says:

I think we’re doing well on the women’s issue overall, although recent studies show that even here women are still generally paid 11% less than men – there have been discussions about making those wage differences illegal, but…nothing much is being done about that at the moment. Read more…

Do you believe that all people should be equal?   Women have been taking action to be recognized as equals throughout history.  Tuesday, March 8 is International Women’s Day.   It will be marked across the globe.

The day was officially recognized in 1911 – so this is the 100^th anniversary. This day honors women who have the confidence to change the world.

According to the UN:

International Women’s Day (8 March) is an occasion marked by women’s groups around the world. This date is also commemorated at the United Nations and is designated in many countries as a national holiday. When women on all continents, often divided by national boundaries and by ethnic, linguistic, cultural, economic and political differences, come together to celebrate their Day, they can look back to a tradition that represents at least nine decades of struggle for equality, justice, peace and development.

International Women’s Day is the story of ordinary women as makers of history; it is rooted in the centuries-old struggle of women to participate in society on an equal footing with men. In ancient Greece, Lysistrata initiated a sexual strike against men in order to end war; during the French Revolution, Parisian women calling for “liberty, equality, fraternity” marched on Versailles to demand women’s suffrage.

Here is a statement Secretary of State Hillary Clinton:

It is a day to reflect on the progress the world has made in advancing women’s rights and to recognize what work remains to be done.

This year marks an anniversary very close to my heart. Fifteen years ago, along with women and men from around the world I attended the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing. The message from that conference rang loudly and clearly, and still echoes across cultures and continents: Human rights are women’s rights, and women’s rights are human rights.

One hundred and eighty-nine countries represented at Beijing adopted a Platform for Action that pledged to increase women’s access to education, healthcare, jobs, and credit, and to protect their right to live free from violence. We have made great progress, but there is a long way to go. Women are still the majority of the world’s poor, unhealthy, underfed, and uneducated. They rarely cause violent conflicts but too often bear their consequences. Women are absent from negotiations about peace and security to end those conflicts. Their voices simply are not being heard.

Today, the United States is making women a cornerstone of foreign policy because we think it’s the right thing to do, but we also believe it’s the smart thing to do as well. Investing in the potential of the world’s women and girls is one of the surest ways to achieve global economic progress, political stability, and greater prosperity for women — and men — the world over.

So on this International Women’s Day, let us rededicate ourselves to advancing and protecting the rights of women and girls, and to join together to ensure that no one is left behind in the 21st century.