Celebrating International Women’s Day with gratitude for being a woman.

March 8 marks International Women’s Day—a day to collectively take a moment to celebrate the wins towards gender equality and the contributions of millions of women who have changed our world. I am taking this opportunity to reflect on what I love about being a woman. 

In a world that tries to tell us that we are inferior to men, that throws “you run like a girl” as an insult, and profits off of making us feel insecure about our bodies, I am taking today to list all the reasons why I love being a woman.

I love the sisterhood and female friendships that come with being a woman. I have been fortunate enough to be part of many female-filled and female-led spaces. I have been an alto chorister with a treble choir for the past six years, surrounded by dozens of inspiring women pursuing their passions. 

This sisterhood has made me feel like I can show up however I am and still be enough. There is no judgment if you sing the wrong note, completely forget your entrance order, or show up stressed out of your mind with midterms. They have been a constant supply of love and support throughout the busy and changing seasons of my life. 

Choir has given me the chance to experience what a completely women-led organization looks like and the kind of strong, empathetic leadership that we bring as women, which I strive to embody. 

The female friendships I have developed are filled with love and loyalty. The kind that will go to the ends of this earth for you and back you up—even when you are in the wrong (“It’s totally not your fault that you’re tired today because you decided to go to bed at 2 a.m.”). They make me feel seen and heard constantly. The emotional intelligence and empathy that women have, I feel, are among our greatest superpowers. My sister has always been my loudest cheerleader. There are no feelings of jealousy and envy if one of us gets a win, just pure happiness at watching each other achieve our dreams. 

I love the girl talk! My girl group chats are spaces where we can talk about anything and everything. There is no exasperation at having to talk about the same thing over and over again (but hey, as we age and experience things we gain different perspectives so we are actually adding to the depth of that one event). My friends and I have spent over two hours discussing a five-minute interaction one of my friends had with a guy. Did that interaction lead to anything? No. Did we dissect every aspect of that five-minute interaction, leaving no detail untouched? A hundred percent yes. 

I love going out for brunch, catching up and simply basking in the warmth of my female friendships. It’s the uncontrollable giggles, the compliments we can’t resist giving, the run-on sentences filled with ‘ums’ and ‘likes’, interspersed with encouraging nods that make me feel an unimaginable amount of happiness. 

I love expressing myself through clothes, accessories and makeup. The variety of colours and styles allows for unlimited options to dress in ways that make me feel confident, comfortable, and beautiful. We have a million things we need to carry and have the cutest handbags as the perfect balance of functional and aesthetic. Yet you will still find me shuffling my hands around trying to manage to carry my keys, water bottle, purse, and the other hundred things that are absolutely necessary to have on my short five-minute coffee runs. 

Being a woman is being part of a sisterhood that passes along an unspoken rule: Even if we aren’t friends, we watch out for one another in spaces where we are vulnerable. We huddle together while we wait for the bus at night, we make eye contact in rooms occupied by men, and we don’t leave women, even those we don’t like, in rooms alone with creepy men. 

Whenever I feel as if the challenges I am faced with are insurmountable, I lean on the resiliency and strength that is in my blood. I know that I am a product of millions of women who have fought so that I can live the life that I live today. I am so honoured that I, as a woman, get to stand on their shoulders. And it is my promise to them that I will not allow the narrow-minded limitations that others place on me to stop me from achieving my dreams and further gender equality for future generations of women. 

I love being feminine. 

I love being “too emotional.”

I love being “too strong.”

I love being a woman.