Whether it’s Helen Reddy’s “I am Woman”; or, Alicia Keyes’ “Girl on Fire” or pick a song that resonates with you on the topic of strong women that persevere; each lyric represents common traits that are inherent in women.
What better time to discuss this topic than during Women’s History Month?
I have mixed feelings about Women’s History Month. One side of me argues that Congress took too dang long to pass a resolution recognizing a month to celebrate all that women have accomplished; all that we are accomplishing and all of our future accomplishments. On the other side of the argument, women should be celebrated each and every single day not just recognized between March 1st and March 31st every year. Not one person can legitimately deny that women need to be universally recognized for our contributions in a society; where, unfortunately, we are not universally equal.
While we have “come a long way baby”, we are still climbing that steep hill to fight for equitable pay, benefits and psychological mind-share of the privilege that men have always held in our society.
Even though the playing fields are not equal, women STILL have achieved so much with smaller resources than our counterparts. It is common knowledge that women lack in pay and benefits in all the top fields including sports. The most notable discrepancy in recent history is the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team who contributed higher revenues to the U.S. Soccer Federation but earned only a fraction of what the men earned. Thankfully, the women soccer players got organized, obtained legal support and fought the injustices and won! As of May 2022, professional U.S. soccer players will earn the same pay regardless of their gender on national teams. Kudos to the players for taking the fight and facts to the U.S. Soccer Federation; but, unfortunately, it had to be done through the legal system to get the type of results that were deemed equitable and sustainable as a precedent.
Women overcome, each and every single day, the psychological and real obstacles put in our way. Regardless of the song, the lyrics get it right using words like strong, invincible; and, phrases like girl on fire, walking on fire. Let me be clear that there are strong men who are secure by our sides (like my husband, brothers and more in my life) who encourage us to achieve; embrace us as partners and cheer us on as women who roar and walk on fire!
Celebrate the women in your life every single day!
Sonya Ruff Jarvis is a Business & Marketing Consultant; Content Creator & Connection-Maker; Thought Leader & Industry Expert and Book Author & Entrepreneur. Areas of expertise include: Retail; Marketing; Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI); and Human Resources. Sonya has been a part of the B2B retail industry for more than 30 years. Interested in Sonya’s books? They can be found on Amazon or get an author autographed copy at www.jarvisconsultants.com.
Let’s talk about your next project and how Jarvis Consultants can support your initiatives; email sonya@jarvisconsultants.com. www.jarvisconsultants.com