International Women’s Day is always a day to celebrate the achievements of women, and this year it has a special significance for me as my book, Smart Career Moves for Smart Women. How to Succeed in Career Transitions, has just been published. This year I would like to remember the women whose vocation and livelihood has been in their pen, or typewriter or laptop and who have given us so many happy and thoughtful hours. Writing is, or can be, a lonely occupation, but at the same time you are populating your book with characters, or, as in my case, the clients I remember, and you are also indirectly speaking to your readers.
I want to pick out just three books about women to celebrate:
Badly Behaved Women, by Anna-Marie Crowhurst. A history of the modern feminist movement which takes us through the stories of the suffragettes, the civil rights movement to the Women’s March in 2017. As Lucy Worsley writes, it is a joyful book, and shows we can be happy about what women have achieved, all the while remembering that this has been against huge odds, thank the women who went before us and never give up.
The Story of Art (Without Men) by Katy Hessel, is well written with beautiful illustrations. Not the first of its kind, (Zing Tsjeng included artists in her Forgotten Women series) but definitely worth owning. It is, of course, a cultural history. Women were forbidden from being artists for so long, and the wonderful art they produced under forbidding conditions. is testimony to their resilience.
Finally, The Loudest Duck. Moving Beyond Diversity While Embracing Differences to Achieve Success at Work, by Laura Liswood. Although not a new book, I have only just come across it through a recommendation from a friend. It’s a wonderful exploration of the workplace and the pre-judgements that we find there and how to overcome them. It’s about learning how to deal with cultural differences – and that means between men and women, too.
So here's to more equity at work and in life. The picture is from Judy Chicago's monumental work The Dinner Party.
Happy International Women's Day!