How to celebrate International Women’s Day

March 8 is International Women’s Day, a time to celebrate all women and femmes alike for being amazing and magical beings. Now, if you’re not sure how to celebrate this special holiday, let me offer you a few ideas: 

1)Stop making unnecessarily gendered products

So the other day I was at an unnamed office supply store and I saw a set of pens called Pens for Women. . . Pens. For. Women.

Is my wrist too delicate to handle your big man pen?!? I’m assuming that these pens for women are probably 80% full of ink and probably write about 80 pages for every 100 pages that your man pen can write. Not to mention that it’s pink because all women and femmes everywhere like pink. It forces the idea that “this pen is a woman’s pen. I cannot use it.” This is dumb — so please stop.

2) Start dogcalling

Many women are familiar with the customary practice of catcalling. It’s when someone — usually a man — attempts to communicate “I like you” by aggressively sexualizing them. ‘Cause nothing says seductive like being told, “Nice boobs, babe” by a rando. However, on this day, help them realize how uncomfortable it is to have some random person yelling at you while walking down the street. Turn it around on catcallers and call them out for being dirty dogs. Actually, don’t call them dogs. That’s too mean to dogs — they’re some of the only good in this world . . . and they understand the word ‘no.’

3) Give. Us. Pockets.

Misogyny can take on many different forms. Street harassment. Discrimination. Infantilization of emotions. However, nothing quite makes you tick like the realization that women’s pants don’t have pockets. (Now while clothing is not inherently gendered, we gotta acknowledge the fact that it currently exists within heteronormative gender constructs cause you know . . . the straights.) Pants that are marketed towards women either have one of two kinds of terrible pocket situations: tiny ones or fake ones. There’s literally no inbetween. Excuse me, but I have things I wanna carry in my pockets. My phone. Lip gloss. A pocket version of We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. For the love of not always wanting to have a bag with me, FIX IT.

4) Close the wage gap

Most women make about 80% of a man’s dollar. Complicate that by being a woman of colour and you have a better hope of finding a chip that can support the weight of guacamole than you do finding a woman who is being rightfully paid for the work that she’s doing. So this year, start looking for ways to close the gap! I wanna be paid well for the work that I do. I don’t want a thigh gap — I want a closed wage gap.

5) Listen to actual women

This one really shouldn’t be a stretch . . . but for some it is. If you don’t remember to do anything, for the love of all things beautiful, please listen to women and femmes around you. There is literally no one else that can tell you how to support women than actual women! Educate yourself, but also take the time out to ask questions; and when you do, listen to their answers. Creating dialogue is just one way of beginning to break down some of these systemic barriers that keep us divided. And maybe we’ll have a future as bright as the glow of Lupita Nyong’o’s dewy skin.