Happy International Women's Day!

Warning: this post is kind of cheesy. In a good, Tina Turner covers German Vogue kinda way.

"Can't you see, can't you see, can't you see, there's a woman right next to you! Oooh, yes there is!" So sang Annie Lennox, that cropped haired icon of 80s empowerment. That's right, people, today is the day when we celebrate all those with xx chromosomes. We live longer than men, there's more of us, and we are more bendy*. Just three reasons why women are awesome! Ever since the suffragette's realised a fundamental issue my good friend Ali eloquently pointed out on Twitter, the 8th March has been the day to start putting that right.

Aside from a tenuous link for those flogging "empowering" pants and suchlike, it's a day when we can think about femaleness and issues around it. Mother's Day is happily on Sunday this year, which is handy - those who can should make the most of it! We wouldn't be anywhere without our momma's *segues into Spice Girls song*....

Get out and do some woman stuff! Could just be a pedicure, I don't care. Listening to Beyonce also counts, especially if you dance along. Even better, go explore some other power singers if you do like Queen Bey, I'm sure you could come across a brand new gem worthy of your listen. The Southbank Centre are running a whole weekend of womanly activities this weekend called Women of the World. A mix of serious, political type talks, some how-tos and some just for fun stuff; there is a talk on fashion which looks hella tight, with the Guardian's Hadley Freeman and Elle's Natasha Pearlman answering questions of ethics in fashion, like fast fashion and why people like Kate Middleton why Kate Middleton flogs so many frocks. Naomi Wolf, who penned Vagina, is giving a talk; Sandi Toksvig is doing some funny, so is Ruby Wax. You get the gist.

I have been thinking a lot about feminism and how engaging with it in a kind of us-vs-them mentality where sexist people are the albeit unwitting perpetrators. Men and women, often men. Blaming the "patriarchy" for everything. It's certainly not a mentality I would wish to appear to subscribe to, but only engaging in "issues" all the time like rape and domestic violence and pornography means you drift towards that quite quickly. I've actually fallen a bit out of love with feminism because of it. So, to really celebrate Women's Day, I'm looking to be more positive about the whole thing. Like a Women's Day Resolution. Issues are important, and awareness is great; but so too is being sexy, dammit! Rihanna's interview in Elle inspired me, that girl genuinely doesn't give a damn. It's all about that mentality this year, people. Let's make it a blast!

*Apparently good flexibility means the world's top rock climbers are women.

All photos are from Tumblr.