My grandmother did not go to school. At the time she was born, on a very nice Lisbon suburb, it was not deemed important for a girl to get an education. There was a set path established at birth that was defined on those first moments of life when, surprise, you got a boy or a girl…
On that path, my grandmother found the time to teach herself how to read. She also taught me and bought me my first comic – Incredible Hulk n6, Portuguese edition - back in the very early 80s. This instilled a passion for reading (and comics) that means Amazon and Comixology receive a bit too much of my monthly earnings.
I wonder how her life would have turned out if she had the same opportunities as a boy?
Over the years, I've had the privilege of working with some incredible women, who are experts in their fields. These women were excellent colleagues, bosses, clients and suppliers. Each contributed to my personal and professional development with their energy, knowledge, ability to think out of the box and build solutions. I can honestly say that no one was judged on their professional abilities by their gender.
All of us, men and women, should be judged alone in our competence to fulfil our jobs, and be rewarded accordingly.
My commitment is to make sure that my daughter, and all the daughters around the world, have
- all the opportunities so they can develop as an individual and professional
- pursue dreams and aspirations without being held back because of gender
However, there is still more that we can do to ensure this:
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Recognize the work that people do irrespective of gender, age, sexual orientation, background, skin colour, religion
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Reward excellence to all achievements, big or small
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Challenge traditional gender roles – we need more campaigns like This Girl Can
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Continue to support working mothers and fathers
If you missed yesterday's IWD post, you can be find here.
