Every Day Should Be #IWD

Despite the fact that yesterday–March 8th–was technically International Women’s Day, I want to take today to acknowledge it here on Hook & Eye. 

I am tempted to say something like this: what a year it has been for reminding us not only of the accomplishments women have made, but, more so, of the work left to be done. And this is true, especially insofar as the litany of media attention in the past year has highlighted some of the pernicious ways that sexism, misogyny, rape culture, and racism continue to harm women–and thereby harm the world.

But I find that I chafe a bit against the framing “whoa, this year has been a doozy.”

Why? Well, for one thing, focusing only on the stories that made mainstream news further shadows the ongoing inequity for women of colour, poor women, trans*people, and other marginalized subjects.

Do you see what I mean? My seemingly simple desire for a pithy writing hook “hey! Look how hard this year was on women!” might well mean that we think of this important story, and this one, and hey, this and this. We may not think of this story, or this story, or this one though. We may fail to remember that Indigenous women and allies have been fighting for a national inquiry into the hundreds of Missing and Murdered Indigenous women in this country.

Let’s not forget. Let’s be vigilant. Let us work to shine a light on our own myopia and those in the mainstream media, in political agendas, and in academic governance. Let’s continue to reimagine feminism as Harsha Walia does so inspiringly here. Let’s listen to Sara Ahmed when she says self-care is warfare, meaning it is a radical form of political action.

Let’s also remember to publicly celebrate the women and women-identified people in our orbits that are inspiring, who do the work, who strive to maintain their humanity in the midst of it all, and who inspire it in us.

Okay, I’ll start: my co-bloggers Aimée Morrison, Melissa Dalgleish, Margrit Talpalaru, Boyda Johnstone, Jana Smith Elford, Lily Cho. Mentors Susan Bennett, Heather Zwicker, Kirsten Pullen, Smaro Kamboureli, Nathialie Cooke, Christy Luckyj, Marjorie Stone, the CWILA board and editorial teams Libe Garcia Zarranz, Marie Carrière, Clelie Rich, Sheila Giffen, Leigh Nash, Judith Scholes, Gillian Jerome, Laura Moss, Linda Morra, Sina Queyras, Shannon Webb-Campbell, Sachiko Murakami, a.rawlings, El Jones, Heather Jessup, Heather Latimer, Astrid Levert, Tanis MacDonald, Karina Vernon, Natalie Walshots, Carrie Dawson, Lynnette Hunter, Tasha Hubbard, Dory Nason, Tina Northrup, Trish Salah, Lucia Lorenzi, Kelly Shindler.

There are more. So many more. But for now, you add your own in the list. And re-watch this Le Tigre video.