Family Transition Place’s Executive Director, Norah Kennedy, wanted to share one final thought with you on our 2021 Phenomenal Women Campaign. Please have a read:
I have to admit I have been having fun watching the response to the Phenomenal Woman Campaign by FTP in honour of IWD this year. The posts by women who suddenly discovered a sign on their lawn who knew nothing about it were my favourites! Imagine waking up one morning to find out that someone wants the world to know that they think you are pretty phenomenal!
And that was the point of this whole campaign.
For obvious reasons, we can’t gather together to celebrate this year, so we wanted to mark the day by celebrating women across our community, individually and at work places that are predominantly female. This past year, since we last celebrated, our world has changed profoundly. It has without a doubt been a hard year for everyone. But, women have taken on a large part of the burdens of the pandemic—front line health care and social services are largely female. Small businesses and workers laid off from the food industry are largely female. Parents trying to figure out how to support online learning are still largely moms. And, women living in abusive homes have been isolated in a place that is not safe for them.
There was no criteria involved to be recognized in this campaign—(other than to identify as woman!) If you were recognized, it was because someone thinks you are Phenomenal. This was not a competition—it wasn’t about who could drum up the most votes, or the most likes. It had nothing to do with one woman being “better” than another. Instead, the campaign is about recognizing the remarkable things that women do, year in year out. This year especially. It was our way to say thank you to those women who have lead us through this pandemic, swabbed our noses, cared for us in hospital, looked after our elderly, counselled our grieving, supported our mental health and kept us safe. It was about celebrating the individuals in our lives who have made a difference to us.
This campaign is about building each other up; celebrating the little things as well as the big. In a competition, when one person wins, another loses; by putting one person upon a pedestal another must fall.
In this campaign, we believe that when one woman is celebrated, we all win. There are no losers here.
This International Women’s Day, think of the women who have raised you up or inspired you in some way. Return that favour by doing the same for another—lift her without fear that it will diminish you.
This year, more than any other in recent history, women have demonstrated just how phenomenal we really are. We deserve today to bask in each other’s glory. WE ARE PHENOMENAL.
