International Women's Day 2021

#ChooseToChallenge #IWD2021

The theme of this year’s International Women’s Day is Choose to Challenge. “A challenged world is an alert world and from challenge comes change. So, let's all choose to challenge.” We asked our Ergobaby team to share some ways in which they’re going to challenge themselves and challenge the world around us to create inclusive, safe spaces for all the women we know. We want to celebrate the million moments that make up our lives and the people that make those moments worth celebrating!

So today, our blog stage belongs to these wonderful women from our Ergobaby team across Germany, France, the UK and Poland and their #ChooseToChallenge pledges.

I want to challenge myself to always fight for my worth

My challenge is to make sure I get equal pay and the career opportunities I deserve. In the UK, for example, unequal pay is a workplace issue for 51% of working women. A male graduate has earned up to 20% more than his similarly qualified female colleague in the past decade. That’s why fair pay in the UK is the main reason to change job. So, I’m challenging myself to always fight for my worth and the promotions or roles I deserve.

I challenge myself to be unapologetic in my ambitions

It might be 2021 but women are still being thought of as ‘bolshy’ or ‘pushy’ when they aren’t afraid to fight for what they want. Particularly when they have children. I still can’t believe that there is anyone that thinks that women should stay at home and take care of the children. However, many women have no other choice. Only 29% of women in the UK say they could have children without affecting their careers. Now that the cost of childcare is at a record level, it is no longer financially possible for some to return to their jobs. And sometimes even saying you want to earn a lot of money out loud and be successful as a woman and mother can be difficult. My challenge is to shout my ambitions as loud as I can, both for myself and for my children one day too.

I want to challenge gender roles.

I’m challenging gender roles, there are no ‘pink and blue’ jobs, or clothes, or interests or toys or anything else for that matter. Society still has a major problem with outdated gender roles. I have children and the number of times I’ve been asked whether their father is ‘babysitting’ or if he ‘helps’ with the housework! He finds it as frustrating as me as he has always seen us as equal in every way including equally responsible parents! And still, the criticism comes (largely from older generations) that I demand too much from him... so my pledge is not to just shake my head and roll my eyes but challenge these outdated viewpoints and explain exactly why they just don’t fit our family.

I’m a dad and I want to challenge the mentality that only women are primary caregivers

My partner works full time, and I am a stay-at-home dad. My partner is often asked: “but what about your kids?”. To which she answers, “what about them?”. I’d love to know how many men have ever been asked that question when they head off to work. Ironically enough there’s another double standard though too, either we’re celebrated as heroes for doing what women are expected to do or we’re treated as strange for wanting to spend all day at home with our kids. When I show up at playgrounds, swimming lessons, and similar events there’s sideways glances and confused looks wondering what I’m doing there instead of their mother and in the 21^st Century that just doesn’t make sense.

I challenge myself to love my body as much as I can

Just like any relationship, the one I have with my body needs time and work but I’m proud of how far I’ve come. I’ll always have ‘off days’ but when they happen, I have a good boogie round the bedroom to remind myself how incredible my body is… and to release some endorphins!

I challenge myself to challenge myself!

So many times, I’ve stood in my own way with my self-doubts and negative dialogue. Both professionally and privately, I was afraid of failure as soon as new challenges awaited me. But I am working on myself, I have the best therapist who has given me some brilliant tools. One thing I do I write down what I’m afraid of and find out who can help me break this blockade. I formulate realistic goals and wishes. If they change over time, I accept that as part of the process. And I listen to motivating expert podcasts that inspire me.

I challenge myself to be the very best mum I can be

I have friends who have never wanted children and have been met with huge amounts of negativity over that choice which has always driven me mad, how they want to live their life is up to them! It’s then even more frustrating when I was also on the receiving end of criticism for how much I wanted to be a mum. It’s like we just can’t win! I liked my job and loved my life before my children, but this new job is the one I was meant to do. Making sure they are happy and learning and thriving is my daily mission and I love it. It’s a full-time job and like any job it has its bad days and off moments, but I think I’m the luckiest person alive to do what I do!

And finally, we asked everyone what advice would you give to a young woman or your younger self today?

‘The first three years of a child’s life are elementally important. Set focus here and put other things back.
You really can do anything you set your mind to.
I would tell her (the younger self) that she is going to do everything right!
To all young women: trust your instincts, you’re almost definitely right!
When someone bullies you, it’s just a reflection of their own problems and
Take care of yourself because everything you do, all the decisions you make, your successes and failures are affected by how you feel about yourself. If you love yourself and live a confident life, it will be reflected in your choices.
Never ignore your gut feeling.
You don’t always have to achieve 100%.
Stand up for yourself! Raise your voice! Be angry! Anger is nothing to be ashamed of. You don’t always have to be nice and smile

And we all agree on this: we can achieve anything and everything we set our minds to. We’re challenging ourselves in order to change the world for the better and we’re not going to let anyone tell us otherwise!

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