• 10almonds
  • Posts
  • International Women's Day (and what it can mean for you, really)

International Women's Day (and what it can mean for you, really)

Plus: "Why has nobody told me this before?"

Author

The 10almonds Team
March 08, 2023

Imagine a gender equal world: a world free of bias, stereotypes, and discrimination. A world that's diverse, equitable, and inclusive. A world where difference is valued and celebrated. Together we can forge women's equality. Collectively we can all #EmbraceEquity.

It’s Wildcard Wednesday at 10almonds, which allows us to celebrate International Women’s Day—on March the 8th, around the world, we celebrate the progress made by and for women, and fight for the important changes yet to come. In today’s edition:

  • Rowena Tsai—How to succeed by focussing on systems, not goals

  • International Women’s Day

    • A feminist food policy for productivity in the food sector?

    • Areas to dive in for women’s health and productivity!

  • Tweet of the day—IWD official

  • Ovarian cancer—do you know the signs? (Most don’t, so if not, you’re not alone)

  • Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before?—sounds like a fair response to the above! But actually, it’s our book of the day, in which Dr. Julie Smith gives us guidance for weathering what life throws at us, and not just surviving, but thriving.

👀 WATCH AND LEARN

⚙️ “You don’t rise to the level of your goals, you fall to the level of your systems”

Rowena Tsai shares the secret of her success:

Key moments:

  • 0:21 systems vs goals

  • 0:34 how she created her own system

  • 4:05 how to identify what is essential

  • 6:34 how to make time

  • 8:22 why you should invest in relationships

👩‍💻 MAIN FEATURE

👩‍🌾 How to not just #EmbraceEquity, but actually grow it, this International Women’s Day!

It's International Women's Day, and there's a lot going on beyond the hashtagging! So, what's happening, and how could you get involved in more than a "token" way in your workplace, business, or general life?

Well, that depends on your own environment and circumstances, but for example...

A feminist policy for productivity in the food sector?

We tend to think that in this modern world, we all have equal standing when it comes to productivity, food, and health. And yet...

❝If women do 70 per cent of the work in agriculture worldwide, but the land is mainly owned by men, then we don’t have equity yet. If in Germany, only one-tenth of female farmers manage the farm on which they work on, while they also manage the household, then there is no equity yet❞

~ Lea Leimann, Germany

What to do about it, though? It turns out there's a worldwide organization dedicated to fixing this! It's called Slow Food.

Their mission is to make food…

  • GOOD: quality, flavorsome and healthy food

  • CLEAN: production that does not harm the environment

  • FAIR: accessible prices for consumers and fair conditions and pay for producers

...and yes, that explicitly includes feminism-attentive food policy:

Do you work in the food system?

If so, you can have an impact. Your knee-jerk reaction might be "I don't", but there are a LOT of steps from farm-to-table, so, are you sure?

Story time: me, I'm a writer (you'd never have guessed, right?) and wouldn’t immediately think of myself as working “in the food system”.

But! Not long back I (a woman) was contracted by a marketing agent (a woman) to write marketing materials for a small business (owned by a woman) selling pickles and chutneys across the Australian market, based on the recipes she learned from her mother, in India. The result?

I made an impact in the food chain the other side of the planet from me, without leaving my desk.

Furthermore, the way I went about my work empowered—at the very least—myself and the end client (the lady making and selling the pickles and chutneys).

Sometimes we can’t change the world by ourselves… but we don’t have to.

If we all just nudge things in the right direction, we’ll end up with a healthier, better-fed, more productive system for all!

🗞 Bonus:

We picked our favorite IWD2023 content…

…to empower and uplift you and those around you!

🗣 Tweet of the Day
❓Did You Know…

Do you know the symptoms of ovarian cancer?

Most people, including most women, don’t. To help avoid the classic “am I dying or is this just my period” situation, here are the symptoms:

  • Persistent bloating (not bloating that comes and goes)

  • Feeling full quickly and/or loss of appetite

  • Urinary symptoms (needing to pee more urgently or more often than usual)

Occasionally there can be other symptoms:

  • Changes in bowel habit (e.g. diarrhoea or constipation)

  • Unplanned weight loss

  • Any unusual vaginal bleeding before or after the menopause should always be investigated by a doctor.

Symptoms will be:

  • New—they're not normal for you

  • Frequent—they usually happen more than 12 times a month

  • Persistent—they don't go away

📖 ONE-MINUTE BOOK REVIEW

Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before? - Dr. Julie Smith

Superficially, this can be called a "self-help" book, but that undersells it rather. It's a professionally-written (as in, by a professional psychologist) handbook full of resources. Its goal? Optimizing your mental health to help you stay resilient no matter what life throws your way.

While the marketing of this book is heavily centered around Dr. Smith's Internet Celebrity™ status, a lot of her motivation for writing it seems to be precisely so that she can delve deeper into the ideas that her social media "bites" don't allow room for.

Many authors of this genre pad their chapters with examples; there are no lengthy story-telling asides here, and her style doesn't need them. She knows her field well, and knows well how to communicate the ideas that may benefit the reader.

The main "meat" of the book? Tips, tricks, guides, resources, systems, flowcharts, mental frameworks, and "if all else fails, do this" guidance. The style of the book is clear and simple, with very readable content that she keeps free from jargon without "dumbing down" or patronizing the reader.

All in all, a fine set of tools for anyone's "getting through life" toolbox.

What did you think of today's newsletter?

Sorry to bother you. But the feedback really helps us.

Login or Subscribe to participate in polls.

Wishing you an equitably healthy and productive day,

The 10almonds Team