Every year, when International Women’s Day rolls around, I feel a renewed sense of rage.
If watching an echo chamber of women explain gender inequality to other women — while your male colleagues grab their pink swirled cupcakes and slink back to their desks — wasn’t bad enough, there’s always a new micro-aggression guaranteed to incite anger.
This year, I was confronted by said micro-aggression during my morning commute. As I sauntered across the marble lobby of a corporate finance firm en route to the office, I was met with a large mural of pink wings. The sign read: ‘Spread your wings in support of equality. Strike a pose with our transformation butterfly wigs and upload your picture and tag a woman who inspires you’. Nothing screams empowerment more than a circa 2013 Instagram picture with a pair of Victoria Secret-style wings.
It seems somewhere along the way, big businesses have averted our attention away from the true purpose of International Women’s Day, which was first introduced in 1911 after 100 delegates gathered in a room and put forward the ‘radical’ idea of marking the quest for gender equality.
For this reason, it’s important that we mark the day by looking back, not only at the wins and losses for women, but also the opportunities for change.
Last year, was the worst year on record for gender-based violence, with 78 women murdered and many unrecorded. As expected, these horrifying statistics sparked a national reckoning with women taking to the streets and urging governments to take action. It was as a result of this outcry that Prime Minister Anthony Albanese finally declared the current state of domestic violence a national crisis.
In other parts of the world, we again saw the power of speaking out. In France, Gisèle Pelicot showed the world that shame must change sides, and so too should efforts to stop the crime as male-perpetrated violence against women is not a women’s issue.
Behind the scenes, female-led charities like White Ribbon Australia have been busy doing the work, by creating a live-in rehab facility where men who have chosen to use violence go to work on their behaviour rather than removing the women from their home.
The biggest learning here is that in order to move forward, we need to pull men into the solutions for gender equality rather than place all of that responsibility on women.
At marie claire‘s 2025 International Women’s Day event, proudly presented by Pandora and supported by Medik8 and Mumm, this notion was echoed by a number of our speakers.
From celebrated actor, Asher Keddie we heard about how she is raising feminist boys, while artist and curator Kirsha Kaechele shared why she has been subjecting men to the female gaze by hiring men to cater to her needs and desires in a performance piece where men get a taste of their own medicine. “I think men benefit from worshipping the goddess and we should let them,” she told the room.
Throughout the lunch, we also heard from human rights lawyer and author of How Many More Women, Jennifer Robinson about the women are still being silenced in the media, from Professor Georgina Long on the scary tan line trend in young girls and from Edwina Bartholomew on her cancer battle and why she no longer cares what people think.
Here are our other favourite take always from the day.
1. Stop glamorising tan lines – Professor Georgina Long AO
Every 30 minutes someone in Australia is diagnosed with melanoma. For medical oncologist and Co-Medical Director of Melanoma Institute Australia (MIA), Professor Georgina Long she has spent much of her professional career delivering these diagnosis.
So when Long learnt that dangerous hacks to increase the prominence of tan lines was trending on TikTok, she was horrified. “Your skin having tan lines is your skin in trauma. we need to stop glamorising tan lines,” she said at marie claires IWD event. “Clothing is the best way we can protect our skin. We need to encourage fashion designers to create more options for sun-safe clothing.”
2. Change the narrative around raising boys – Asher Keddie
Asher Keddie is cool mum. Not only is the mother of two an award-winning actor behind the hit series’ Offspring, Nine Perfect Strangers, Strife, Fake and Plum, but she’s also shaping the conversation around the perception of working mothers.
“I’ve been talking to my son Val since he was a toddler about why I make the choice to work. I tell him that I like to work, rather than saying that I have to as it makes my kids feel guilty. I want to change the narrative around women in the work force.”
3. Are your female friendships serving you? – Asher Keddie
The sentiment that we are stronger together is often thrown around on International Women’s Day, but anyone that has truly examined their own female friendships knows this isn’t always the case. The relationships we have as women can be layered and nuanced and at times coded with our own projections. For Asher Keddie, it wasn’t until recently that she has reflected on the friendships in her life and whether or not they were truly building her up.
“I have enjoyed my female friends more later in life. I’ve never felt so nourished as I have right now. In my later years, now that I feel more comfortable in my skin, I’ve started removing anything that isn’t helping me grow – which is mostly people. I’ve opened my life to so many positive new female friendships who even helped my old friendships to evolve.”
4. Stop caring what other people think – Edwina Bartholomew
There is no greater leveller than cancer. Not only does it shift everything into perspective but it forces you to rethink what is important in life. This was something Australian journalist and TV show host, Edwina Bartholomew experienced first-hand after she was diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukaemia last year.
“I got really lucky that my cancer was treatable. Being given a second chance with life has really forced me to stop caring about other people think of me and start forgiving myself and slowing down,” she said.
5. Question everything – Jennifer Robinson
In 2020, Human Rights Lawyer Jennifer Robinson represented Amber Heard in her ex-husband Johnny Depp’s UK libel lawsuit against The Sun newspaper and won. It should have been a victory, but two years later Heard stepped into the court room once again for a highly publicised defamation case against Amber Heard, brought against her by her ex-husband. What unfolded was a social media witch hunt turned trial by media with a clear agenda: #JusticeforJohnny.
In the aftermath of the case, which Depp ultimately won, Robinson spoke out about the way the media is manipulated as a weapon against women.
“We’ve since learned that half of the online activity behind the #justiceforJohnny campaign was coming from bots,” said Robinson. “The way Amber Heard the way has been portrayed should scare every woman. It’s so important that we always question the truth and educate our children in social media literacy, so that they can differentiate between what is real and what is fake information.”
6. Turn shit into gold – Kirsha Kaechele
Last year, curator and artist, Kirsha Kaechele made headlines when her women-only space, the lavish Ladies Lounge at Hobart’s Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) faced closure due to an anti-discrimination case after a man denied entry filed a complaint.
Eventually, the Supreme Court overturned the earlier ruling, declaring the Ladies Lounge non-discriminatory and directing the matter be reconsidered. Of the trial Kaechele says: “the challenge in life is to sit with that and access how it can be fuel. It’s about reframing the problem – turning shit into gold.”
Wrapping up the day, guests were treated to marie claire branded goodie bags filled with all our favourite products; Parolive PEARL Marine Collagen Superpowder Travel Set, Flavedo Beauty Blush, Kerasilk Hair Mask, Medik8 Liquid Peptides Advanced MP, Smashbox Cosmetics OG Photo Finish Primer and Sunset Daze Bronzing Drops.
The list didn’t end there, also inside was a Parfums de Marly Delina Discovery Perfume Gift Set, Bondi Active Gift Card, It Cosmetics Glow with Confidence Sun Blush, Original Mineral Dry Texture Spray and Quennie Firm Hold Hairspray, Mesoestetic Australia melan 130 pigment control and Ginger & Me Grateful Bath Soak.
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