Friday is International Women’s Day – a day where advocates call for action in moving toward gender parity. It’s not a day about the fall of men, but it is a day to celebrate the strong, powerful, diverse and unique contributions of women worldwide. It’s a day where we take time to think about what we can do to move toward a gender-balanced world.

Now, I am actually a fairly traditional girl. I believe in and practice traditional social roles for men and women, for the most part. But I was also raised to believe in myself, work hard and achieve great things. In my case, I have largely been able to do this, unhindered. However, women’s issues have become increasingly important to me over the years.

At heart, I am a government teacher. For ten years I studied political and economic issues in our country and in the six countries that form the core content of Comparative Government; Russia, the UK, Iran, China, Mexico and Nigeria. This extended study has exposed me to more about the state of women worldwide.It also created in me an increasing desire to understand and confront the lack of balance when it comes to the possibility for a woman to achieve worldwide.

For more about my story, read on. For statistics, business recommendations, or to find my list of classroom resources and references, please scroll to the bottom.

A Teaching Story about Women’s Issues

I remember the day that I finally realized how important women’s issues were to me. I taught a “double AP” course. Between September and May, students were prepared to take and pass two different Advanced Placement tests. Essentially, we were cramming two college courses into a little less than 9 months and we moved fast.

I had a good understanding of what we needed to cover to do well on the exam. Since my primary goal was to prepare them to be successful on the AP Exam, I built my course around that preparation. The Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Unit was the very last unit in the US Government half of the course and the majority of the time was needed to study relevant court cases. As a result, there was very little actual time to study other civil rights issues or legislation.

Background to a Dilemma

One day, as we approached the end of the court cases, I was sitting in our work room trying to plan. I struggled because I only had a day and a half to cover any other key Civil Rights issues. Students were familiar with racial discrimination issues since they had studied the Civil Rights movement in US History the previous year, but so much more could be said and investigated.

On the other hand, I had recently had time to watch a new video about Lilly Ledbetter. Watching it shook up all kinds of thoughts within me. It reminded me about similar issues I had struggled with when a friend had recommended a video of Sheryl Sandberg (author of Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead). It made me think that maybe I should spend one day of my 1.5 days talking about women in the workplace.

But, I thought, the section on women’s equality and discrimination in the textbook is so small. There was so much more in the chapter on the Civil Rights struggles of African Americans and so many pieces of legislation that could show up on the test. I was nearly incapacitated over what to do. No matter what I chose, I was going to feel guilty for leaving someone out.

An Intervention

It was at that point that one of my department colleagues, a friend, walked in. She saw my knitted brow and heard my deep sighs and asked me what was wrong. I explained my situation and she said, “The fact that you are feeling guilty about spending your one day talking about women’s equality is the exact reason it is needed.” We talked about a lot of things that day. I started to realize that the textbook’s lack of information on women was actually quite revealing.

• The textbook didn’t have a lot of information about civil rights for women, first of all, because not much legislation had been passed to address it! Why not? Is there no need? (There was a need, my research said). Is it because there is lack of awareness? Something else?
• On the other hand, the textbook also lacked information because the things that were relevant to women weren’t always included. There were things that I knew could be included in the textbook that simply weren’t. For instance, the section on Congress dealt very little with the representation of women in Congress.

As I thought through these things, I had an awakening – not of the need for women to fight for rights, in particular, but the need to have balance in the story. Otherwise, how would the recorded story (as in my textbook) change?

The Decision

That year I spent one of the 1.5 days available to me showing the students the story of Lilly Ledbetter. Afterwards I gave a tiny, 10 minute lecture – showing students the pay gap that still existed in the United States, giving some examples of gaps in different professions, and laying out two different perspectives about why that gap exists. Students were quiet but their eyes were glued to the screen. Not everyone was comfortable with that discussion, but I had multiple female students thank me afterwards (which rarely ever happens, I will add).

Later that night, I got an email from a parent that I will never forget. He shared with me that his daughter had asked him at the dinner table how you negotiate a salary. Being in the corporate world, he knew how to do this and shared what he knew with his daughter over dinner. However, he had been shocked by her question and asked her what had prompted it. She shared what we had learned in class that day and that she wanted to make sure that when she was hired for a job, she wouldn’t be afraid to negotiate. This parent wanted to thank me because he never wanted his daughter to think that she deserved less than her worth and this lesson had given him the opportunity to prepare her to make sure she got it.

There is more I could say about what I learned in my classes about women in our country and in others, but I will save that for another International Women’s day. 🙂 I did not do my lesson on women every year. In fact, each year after that first year, I rotated through what I saw were civil rights issues either undeveloped in the textbook or particularly relevant to the society’s struggles at that particular time. But, I never again felt guilty for spending a day on women.

Women’s Issues: A Few Statistics

• 4 of 113 Supreme Court justices have been women
• 77% teachers are women but only 23% of superintendents are women.
• 39 countries don’t allow women to inherit property equally.
• In 2018, nearly 4,000 women ran in federal and state-wide races.
• Women won 102 House seats, 14 Senate seats, and 9 governorships.
• The 116th Congress represented the biggest leap in participation of women in Congress and the highest percentage of women serving in US History. (See more here)
• In 2019, women comprise 23.7% of the 535 members members of Congress. (see more here)
• Of 189 economies assessed in 2018, 104 economies still have laws preventing women from working in specific jobs…and in 18 economies, husbands can legally prevent their wives from working.  (source)
• In 40% of economies, women’s early stage entrepreneurial activity is half or less than half of that of men’s. (source)
• Women-founded startups received 2% of venture money.

Women in Business

All of that being said, I believe that it is important to support women in business. The world is changing and despite the facts above, women are making a place for themselves in business and using their incredible creativity to not only achieve, but create and build companies to help each other achieve. Even better, many of these companies allow opportunities for women to be entrepreneurs whether they choose to make their business their sole goal or whether they choose to build a business on top of at-home responsibilities. I want to share some of those businesses today. Through your support of the businesses of these female entrepreneurs, you too can take part in #balanceforbetter.

Note: Some of the following links are affiliate links. This means that making a purchase through some of these links will result in a small commission for another woman entrepreneur, me! For more information, please see my Privacy Policy.

Jane.com

One business that I’ve talked about before is Jane.com. If you follow me on Facebook, you will know that I post great deals from Jane from time to time. Jane is an online marketplace where various small businesses are able to market and sell their products. Items are listed for only a few days – often boutique deals at significantly-reduced prices. Though the products are only there for a few days at a time, many favorites come back and many of the same retailers share new and repeating products.

Some of my favorite items from Jane: (Click on the pictures to go to the original post)

Dress	Moto Skinnies (total fave)
Necklace (sorry, hard to see)	Shoes (designer look-alikes)

I love Jane.com for their deals, but more than that, they are a company in which women are achieving #balanceforbetter. Over 2,000 sellers (88%) in the Jane.com marketplace are small businesses owned by women. They care about empowering women at home and around the world. You can see more about their #stronglikeyou campaign here. Because of that, Jane is actually celebrating International Women’s Day today through Friday.

I will link some of my favorites for you here but if they sell out, you can always check out my Jane store for a fresh rundown of some of my favorite categories of items on Jane.com.

Some of my favorites on Jane.com today (click on the image to go direct) :

LuLaRoe

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention some of the businesses that have allowed friends of mine to bring in extra income while still working from home or being a stay-at-home mom. The first of those businesses is LuLaRoe. It’s been awhile since I’ve talked about LuLaRoe, but I’m still loving my Amelia dress (it has pockets!) and I have added another favorite to my collection, the Nicole. You can see my review of a Lula-haul I did a few years ago here.

LuLaRoe has been a company where countless women across the country have been able to build their own businesses at their own pace. Independent Fashion Consultants are essentially independent contractors who buy the clothing in bulk but then use their own ingenuity, social media skills and pure moxy to host parties, run giveaways and work their tail off to market their products. They’ve been highly successful and LuLaRoe consultants are dotted everywhere across the country. It’s an investment, but it has been a big success for many women.

If you’re interested in LuLaRoe, please check out my friend Cassie’s group. She’s always posting outfit ideas, product pictures, going live to show the products, etc. You can find her page HERE.

Thirty-one

Similar to Lularoe, Thirty-one is a company with independent business owners supporting their families and reaching their dreams. Their number one goal is to help women by giving them the opportunity to run their own successful business.  Though it has only recently come onto my radar, it is one that I would recommend. Not only do they have a variety of great-quality products, but they are another organization who gives back.

If you’re interested in checking them out, go HERE. And while you’re there, make sure to check out the “All About the Benjamins” wallet. It’s the only wallet I’ve ever had that manages to keep all my cards and all my receipts, cash, coupons, etc and still zip up!

In Conclusion

To finally wrap this up (can you tell I’m pretty passionate about this?), I believe there is something beautiful about celebrating the unique achievements of fellow sisters. The rise of women is not about the fall of men, it’s about letting the other half of the story be told and known and valued. International Women’s Day is a great time to have that talk with your daughter or grandaughter or students.

Teach them to advocate for what they’re worth. Share with them the story of women entrepreneurs and scientists and artists and athletes. Then maybe one day I won’t have to pick carefully through the textbook to find information about women. It will be balanced. Female entrepreneurs will have the confidence and the venture capital to make their dreams come true. There will be balance.

Resources on Women’s Issues

Many of the facts above (if unmarked) come from here.

• International Women’s Day Teacher Resources – find conversation starters, case studies, and coloring pages. (more here)
• #IWD Lean In Resources
• UN World Women’s Report – Great statistics, charts and graphs and infographics. It is divided by topic, and each topic is brief and readable.
• UN Women’s Watch – links to stories and data on current issues
• UN Economic Facts and Figures on Women
• TED’s Collection on Women in Business – links to videos
• Gender Indicators from the UN by Country
• Pew Research Article on the Changing Face of Congress – 5 charts
• Annenberg Classroom Video and Resources on Lilly Ledbetter – (video embedded below) make sure to check out the related resources at the bottom if you’re a teacher. It includes a lesson plan to go along with it.
• Some more recent websites with info on the pay gap – 1 / 2 / 3

As always, thanks so much for visiting! This blog is both a hobby and a business. It’s a way this woman gets to express her creativity and achieve part of her dream and I am so grateful to you who support me in telling my own story. 🙂

Virginia

Linking up with: Color and Grace | Pumps & Pushups | Straight A Style | Seeking Sunshine | Curly Crafty Mom | Mummabstylish | Lizzie in Lace