THOMPSON: Why I celebrate International Women’s day all year

Earlier this month – March 8 – some of the world celebrated “International Women’s Day”. I say some because a whole bunch of countries either ignored it…or gave it the same recognition they give, say, “Talk Like a Pirate Day” or “Lost Sock Memorial Day”. Yes, these are real official days.

I celebrate International Women’s Day…365 days a year. I view it somewhat like “Secretaries Day” when I had the great fortune of having a secretary. Some now call it “Administrative Professionals Day”…maybe because too many folks treated secretaries as less valuable people for so long.

Rather than take any secretary who worked with me to lunch or buy flowers that one day a year…I tried my best to treat each of them with respect as a valued partner…a cohort…an indespensible co-worker…every day of the year. I probably got my secretaries coffee as often as they brought me a cup.

It should go without saying…but I won’t…that certain genders and groups have long faced an uphill battle when trying to gain equal footing as human beings. Women and people of colour have struggled for centuries…and there are plenty of folks who still deny them equality.

I’ve heard countless reasons from some men why women and people of colour “should know their places”…with some even sort of quoting The Bible. Nothing says progressive or enlightened quite like quoting a very old book…written by very old, white men.

Maybe I’ve just been around strong women since birth…and I’ve learned to appreciate them without pigeon-holing them into subservient roles. My mother, my sister, my wife…strong women. Why wouldn’t you choose to be with a strong woman? It doesn’t make you weaker…like Kryptonite hurt Superman.

So, this is my public tribute to women…a once-a-year celebration that I hope will soon go out of fashion. Here, in no particular order, are women who simply left things better than they found them.

Strong women standing up for the rights of all women didn’t start with Betty Friedan or Gloria Steinem. Consider Abigail Adams, First Lady to President John Adams, who wrote her “Remember the Ladies” letter to the Continental Congress three months before the Declaration of Independence. She advised that women’s rights and protections should be included in any laws for a new America.

Of course, there were strong women throughout history…from The Virgin Mary to Queen Elizabeth I, but few advocated for all women until the 18th Century…mostly due to the stranglehold of men over every aspect of life. Women have battled for equality for centuries…and while there are so many worthy of remembering…I’ll concentrate here on the past 100 years.

There are women who not only survived historical events…war, displacement, disease and violence…but they molded their futures and the futures of millions of other women who would never meet them. Their impact lasted long after their lives…their battles, their struggles…passed.

Fania Fenelon was a survivor of the Nazi’s Auschwitz Concentration Camp in World War II. She sang in an all-women orchestra that performed for 11 months near the end of the war in a camp that exterminated 1.1 million people…most of them Jews.

I read her memoir, “Playing for Time” back in 1977, which was also a made-for-television movie a year or so later. It was a powerfully written book…a testament to the strength and inspiration of millions of women since the dawn of time.

Most people have heard of Mother Teresa…but are less familiar with all of her good works. Mary Teresa Bojaxhiu was an Albanian-Indian Roman Catholic Nun. She led an order of tens of thousands of women across 130 countries.

Those self-less women provided hospice services to the dying poor, and ran thousands of soup kitchens, orphanages and schools. Her efforts and those she inspired by her changed the lives – providing dignity – to some of the most vulnerable people on Earth.

Most women – like men – never become famous…yet do incredible things in their lives. One of my favourites is Frances Gabe. She died nine years ago at age 101…an inventor who created the world’s first self-cleaning house.

She designed and built a 1,000 sq. ft. cinder-block bungalow in the mid-1980s, at a cost of $15,000…the culmination of more than 10 years of construction and two decades of planning.

While under an umbrella, she would press a button activating a sprinkler in the ceilings. A mist of sudsy water sprayed over walls and floor. A second spray rinsed everything. Jets of warm air blew it all dry…taking less than an hour.

Gabe’s house included 68 individual patented inventions…including a cupboard where dirty dishes set on mesh shelves and were washed and dried in place. She dealt with laundry by putting soiled clothes inside another contraption on hangers, where they were washed and dried with jets of water and air, and still on hangers, pulled neatly by a chain into a closet.

Floors were coated with marine varnish…furniture encased in clear acrylic resin. Bed linens stayed dry by pulling an awning over the bed before the water flowed. Waterproof upholstery, covered electrical outlets. Books and papers behind glass. She thought of everything. Genius…pure and simple…no matter how odd.

The remainder of my list is a mix of cultural, social and political icons…I leave them to you to explore further. Women like Zora Neale Hurston, Norma Swenson, Margaret Atwood, Aretha Franklin, Josephine Baker, Hedy Lamarr, Maya Angelou, Emily Carr, Tina Turner, Coretta Scott King, Julia Child, Toni Morrison and Virginia Giuffre…among so many others.

Then, of course, there are the millions of women worldwide who make the impossible possible every day…largely unheralded…often with little credit…having and raising children, working in and outside their homes, taking care of all, inspiring themselves and others…succeeding at life.

Despite these more than full-time pursuits…they battle every day for equality, justice and respect. How can you not love a strong woman?