Her Story

I have to admit I’m a little annoyed as I draft this blog post in preparation for International Woman’s Month. Every year around this time, you start to see the floral arrangements increase in price, all window displays in shades of pinks and champagne, and the gifting experiences are always booze, books and spa days because this screams self-care – right?

You can’t scroll through your social feeds without consuming immature and sexist content in the form of ‘jest’ with detergents and cleaning products being gifted to the ‘special woman in your life’ with the caption: ‘And that; Judge is how the argument started’.

Or what about the ridiculous quizzes, questionnaires and games made available, labeled as ‘fun and funny’ titled, ‘Dumb blonde Test’, Drama Queen Quiz, What flower are you, How many babies will you have, You as a wife, The kitchen that suits you, and the list goes on. Don’t get me wrong, I have a great sense of humour and I have found myself in a trance waiting to find out ‘what type of potato are you’ – I’m a sweet potato fry, obviously!

But let me explain what is truly upsetting.

Herstory vs History

From as far back as the bible, women or women’s names represent less than 8% of the total names in the Bible. There are 93 women who speak in the Bible, 49 of whom are named! The only woman in Scripture, where her age at death is recorded is Sarah – or as you may know her as Abraham’s wife. Even Eve is punished and labeled as dishonorable, disobedient and responsible for the ‘fall’. Owing to Eve wanting to eat fruit from the ‘Tree of knowledge’, it is believed that all of humanity have Eve to thank for the consequences of her actions, such as, agony during childbirth. I mean heaven forbid we have a hunger for education.

When we consider the terms war, brigade, led the charge, army, warrior; we generally envision a man or male figure yet it was Boudicca, the queen of Iceni who gathered the troops to rally against the Romans, and raised the towns of Camulodunum (Colchester), the capital of Roman Britain; Verulamium (St. Albans); and Londinium (London). It was the farm girl, Joan of Arc who led the French troops in many battles, notably to victory in Orleans – after which she was tried for heresy and burned at the stake. And it was the Amazons, the original portrait of warrior woman who forswore the society of men other than to mate for the purpose of increasing their all-female tribe who have multiple stories of bravery shown in battle and won wearing nothing but a gold belt fastened beneath their exposed breasts.

What about pirates? Do you only picture a wooden legged man named Jack with a parrot on his shoulder? Aethelflaed should spring to mind – known as “the Lady of the Mercians” and was the first woman to rule an Anglo-Saxon kingdom. Appearing in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, she became the military leader and chief strategist of the Anglo-Saxons in battle with the Vikings in 911. She is recognised as playing a vital role in defeating the Viking raiders and reconquering English lands lost to Danish pirates.

Or Ching Shih should sound familiar, known as the most successful pirate in history. Shih came to amass and rule over history’s largest pirate fleet. Her 1200-strong armada and total crew of over 70,000 men, dominated over the South China Sea, battling domestic and foreign empires (China, Portugal and England) to retain control.

The issue here is that all these stories, tales and accounts were documented by men, if captured or recorded at all. The true accounts, thoughts, strategies, and emotions were of the view and perspective of the male authors.

Even educated woman with the skills to read and write weren’t acknowledged for their work until their death. Jane Austin for example was an English novelist, now primarily known for her 6 novels, 4 of which were published anonymously – Sense and Sensibility in 1811, Pride and Prejudice in 1813, Mansfield Park in 1814, and Emma in 1816. At the time, a woman who wished to be a full time writer was felt to be degrading her femininity. When discussing this with fellow females and colleagues – the general response is ‘well it was a different time’, why then in 2022, only 2% of GCSE pupils studied a novel or play by a female author? More than 70% of the GCSE English Literature set text list is dominated by white male writers.

According to LinkedIn data from 2023, Only 32.2% of people that hold a senior leadership position are women which makes sense considering that a recent MIT Sloan study that looked at 30 000 employees at a large retail chain shared results that women are 14% less likely to be promoted than their male colleagues. Interestingly, In 1952, Milicent Patrick was hired by Universal Pictures as a makeup designer for the film “Creature From the Black Lagoon,” where she thought up the movie’s monster, a sea creature called Gill Man who falls in love with a human.

Jealous of her acclaim, Patrick’s boss fired her and had her name removed from the credits, replaced with his own.

Her work has since inspired horror and science-fiction directors over the decades, and most recently, influenced the creature in the 2017 Oscar-winning movie “The Shape of Water.”

There are countless cases where women were overlooked or their discoveries credited to men. Have you heard of Hedy Lamarr? Hedy invented wireless communication but the US Navy ignored her patent. How about Alice Ball? Alice cured leprosy but Arthur Dean took over her study making Alice nothing but a memory. Elizabeth Magie Phillips invented Monopoly, the beloved board game but Charles Darrow took the credit when he sold it to the Parker Brothers in 1935. Mary Anderson invented windscreen wipers and received a patent in 1903 but only in the 50’s and 60’s once automobiles were faster and Mary’s patent had expired did the industry take to her invention and Robert Kearns was credited with the idea.

But yes, Happy International Women’s Month!

I mean as a woman myself, I’m not one to complain – in fact the common traits of a woman and her femininity is to be passive, empathetic, modest, kind, sensitive, nurturing, sweet, supportive and understanding.

So let’s lean in and look at the positives.

Since 2015, the proportion of women appointed to leadership positions steadily increases by 1% annually globally. The number of women in the C-suite has increased from 17% to 28% in 2023 and with 32.2% of leadership roles being held by women, women’s representation is at the highest it’s ever been. There are 337 women billionaires as of April 2023, up from 327 in April 2022 and with The Loreal heir, Francoise Bettencourt Meyers holding the title as the world’s richest woman, for the 3^rd year in a row this certainly provides a glimmer – even if it’s still only 10% of the richest people in the world.

With a far way still to go before we break through the glass ceiling, we want to encourage more women to share their story. Your real, authentic, raw, honest, and own story – whether big or small wins, big or small disappointments – your story will resonate with so many of us and ensure that more women are represented. By feeling represented, we’re motivated to join the movement.

Here are our 15 Top Tips for sharing your story online

1. Start sharing your story – Seriously, just start. Whatever comes to mind and whatever you’re feeling pressed to share, just do it.
2. Your story is important – Regardless of how big or small, your message is powerful and remarkable.
3. Give us a little history – All great stories have context, references, and childhood lessons from your past that help tie it all together
4. The common thread – Remain grounded and self-aware, include a note of common ground and understanding for your audience to resonate with
5. KISS – Keep It Simple Silly. You don’t need to over complicate it, write your story the same way you speak and would tell it to a friend over a cup of tea, coffee or glass of wine.
6. Be vulnerable – Dig deep, get personal and be authentic. You cannot be courageous without vulnerability and women are super smart with see right through your BS. Just be real and honest.
7. Step into your truth first, teach later – Own your story and be confident in the choices you’ve made before imparting your new found wisdom and strength onto others. You don’t want to force your opinions onto others and end up with egg on your face later.
8. Keep it positive – We are all entitled to feel how we feel, even if that feeling is anger or frustration but make sure your story has a sprinkling of glimmers, empower yourself and your audience with possible solutions, options, action plans. Keep your message empowered and powerful.
9. Appreciate that you can’t please everyone – Not everyone is going to get it, and that’s ok. Viewers can scroll on by and your audience is also entitled to their view and opinion just as you are. Enjoy the conversation, the different perspectives and be open.
10. Share current, relevant and real insights – Don’t wait, don’t cool down, don’t subdue, don’t tame or supress your authentic feelings and emotions. I’m not saying fly off the handle, but sharing current events in real time is the epitome of being authentic. Go on, tell us what you really think before the societal noise hums over you.
11. Let’s see a candid photo – Oh go on! We all have clutter, our hair out of place, a unique scar or feature. Raw and unedited because filters are fun but were you born with those kitten ears?
12. Keep some secrets and mystery – For your protection, you want to remain safe online and when sharing your story. Keep private information pertaining to your address, contact details, personal finances, etc offline. While you may be comfortable to bare all, your friends, family, colleagues and those you love deeply may not, so you’ll want to be respectful to their privacy and personal wishes. Gain permission or use alternative images and names.
13. Share it – Let your story and message reach far and wide. Allow it to go viral. Allow conversation. Let your audience read, watch, listen and enjoy your message. Let your story resonate, inspire and empower.
14. Don’t polish and buff yourself – You get to share your story, your way. You want to drop an F bomb, use slang, emoji’s, tell jokes or share quotes? Show your personality whole heartedly, naturally and completely carefree.
15. Trust your gut – If it feels wrong, cringy, out of place, out of character, unkind or unnecessary then follow your intuition and stay true to self.

Now remember, your story doesn’t always have to be about massive milestones and big wins. Seriously, the most watched YouTube video in 2023 was ‘Baby Shark Dance’ – PinkFong Kinds’ Songs & Stories with 13 billion views and was originally released in 2016. And the most watched TikTok video in 2023 was Zach King’s “Magic Ride” as of July 2023, with over 2.3 billion views. According to a quick online search, the most read post topics in 2023 were fashion, cooking, home improvement, technology, cryptocurrency & blockchain, health, personal finances, education, and social media and influencer marketing.

Here are a few topics we know your audience will love

1. What outfit you chose to wear today, why and how it makes you feel
2. Your favourite breakfast, lunch, dinner or snack recipe
3. A life hack you wish you knew sooner that helps you clean, maintain or improve your home or work space
4. What apps, tools, programs or devices you swear by and simply cannot live without, how you use them and why
5. 1 thing you do daily, weekly or monthly that’s important for your mental, physical and spiritual health
6. Simple changes you’ve made or strategies you have in place that have a positive impact on your personal finances
7. We learn something new every day, what did you learn or teach someone today?

Tell your story today

It is absolutely vital that we share our story. Without fear, we need to record, document, label and name our stories. And what better time to start than International Women’s Month. Every girl from future generations need to be represented, heard and encouraged to share their story too.

But before you do, don’t forget to giggle when you receive a hamper of detergents – Just scroll through a couple quizzes over a glass of pink Prosecco with a couple cucumber slices to soothe your eyes and remain feminine, you know – passive, empathetic, modest, kind, sensitive, nurturing, sweet, supportive and understanding.