Calling on IWD celebrations to make space for minoritised, racialised women

Brenda Gaddi explains why so many women feel disconnected from this supposed day of celebration. 

International Women’s Day (IWD) – a day I feel more and more disconnected with – celebrates the progress made for women’s rights and equality. But while gender equality is rising higher up on the corporate, political and societal agenda, First Nations women, women of colour, migrant and refugee women are left behind and are kept at the bottom.

The way IWD is mostly celebrated today is still deeply rooted in, and in favour of, white supremacy. Most IWD celebrations in Australia deliberately or unconsciously, choose to further elevate the successful white woman, focus only on issues that predominantly affect white women, and through events, panels and speaking opportunities, IWD  is a day that seeks to advance white women’s own representation across the board. It’s not surprising that so many First Nations women, women of colour, migrant and refugee women feel disconnected from this day.

In fact, a coalition of 25 Australian advocates and organisations recently launched a campaign called More Voices, More Representation  in a push to help create an IWD that has greater intersectional representation to ensure all women are recognised, celebrated and represented on that day and beyond. The campaign paints a very stark picture of what the day currently feels like for women of colour.

The nationwide survey of 419 women, trans or gender-diverse and non-binary people revealed that 83 per cent of women of colour, 79 per cent of CALD women and 75 per cent of immigrant women do not feel represented in IWD celebrations in Australia.

The day should recognise and celebrate all women and the celebrations need to reflect Australia’s diverse population so all women can feel represented, but mostly seen and valued as active members of society, rather than second class citizens.

According to the 2021 census, Australia is becoming increasingly diverse. 3 in 10 Australians (27.6 per cent) were born overseas and the number of people who speak a language other than English at home has increased by nearly 800,000, rising to over 5.5 million people and women from CALD backgrounds make up a significant proportion of the Australian population.

So how can large corporations, organisations, event organisers and the media celebrate International Women’s Day in a way that’s more inclusive, representative and intersectional, and focus less on the glorification of the successful White business women, the purple cupcakes and the flowers?

Firstly, IWD celebrations need to make space for minoritised and racialised women as it is an opportunity to acknowledge that our current system is not designed for First Nations women, women of colour, migrant and refugee women.

True allyship and intersectional feminism on IWD and beyond have the power to create transformative social impact for all women, including women with intersecting and overlapping identities everywhere.

There also needs to be more diverse representation on panels, at events and in the media instead of having those slots filled by predominantly white, straight and able-bodied women. Event organisers need to expand their search net when looking for speakers for their IWD events to also consider the plethora of inspiring women from underrepresented communities so that the issues discussed at the events can be more relatable to more women across Australia.

If you don’t know where to find them, Keynoteworthy is a platform that connects diverse speakers with events and the More Voices, More Representation campaign also created a resource centre featuring diverse speakers to choose from. If all else fails, leverage LinkedIn to post call outs, be proactive and intentional in your endeavour to diversify your speaking panels.

Event organisers also should put more thought into the set up of their IWD events if they are intentional about being more inclusive and intersectional in their approach. While there’s nothing necessarily wrong with morning teas and purple cupcakes, think about the colonial connotations at play and how this alone is enough to put off or exclude some women from your events. It can also be viewed as oppressive because women are expected to act and behave like ladies; drink their tea with their pinkies up.

It doesn’t need to be a massive undertaking to make celebrations more inclusive and representative. What we need is for allies to show up and stand up by using their power and privilege to call out inequities and inequalities.