Editorial: International Women’s Day

Jasmin: The 8th of March this week is International Women’s Day, which came about to celebrate women’s suffrage. The theme for this year is Press for Progress, which is fitting in a summer where we have seen the rise of the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements. Helen and I have both been involved in activism pushing for women’s rights for a while. From what we have seen we can’t just sit back and wait for people to give us the changes we hope to see. As women of colour we are also aware that we end up working twice as hard to get half as far.

Helen: That’s right, Happy International Women’s Day everyone! Like what Jasmin said, a lot of people don’t recognise the amount of labour women, and more specifically women of colour go through to get recognised everywhere in the world. Like in the height of the recent #MeToo movement, little realise that the phrase was first coined by a black civil rights activist called Tarana Burke in 2006, to raise awareness of sexual abuse and assault in present day society. Much of it has been overridden by the whiteness of Hollywood, with little acknowledgement given beyond the Western framework. There’s actually a growing #MeToo movement for women in China as well, it’s called #RiceBunny which translates in Chinese to “mi tu”, and was purposely altered to escape the government’s tight censorship.

Jasmin: We’re so glad that we can share the amazing International Women’s Day pieces with you this week. One of my favourites is the our interview with the women behind CBD restaurant Ima Cuisine. Yael referring to the extra barriers that women have to overcome over the already difficult process of starting a restaurant shows us that there’s still a long way to go to achieve the equality we’re already supposed to have. We’re also really excited to try the recipe they shared, so keep an eye out on our social media for updates and send us pictures of your attempts at the recipe!

Helen: Paulina’s article is an amazing read too, highlighting the importance of recognising Maori and Pacific women’s voices. I love her blatant roasts on white male historians and anthropologists, I feel you. On a lighter note, *story of the week* we’d like to give a shout out to the old man that came into our office last week without warning. He apparently eats dinner at Shadows every Wednesday and thinks they don’t get enough publicity. Well I don’t know if this counts as the advertising you asked for but I hope we made your dreams come true. As for the rest of you, enjoy this week’s issue!