An Open Letter To All Women.

Dear all women, 

Happy International Women's Day!

I would like to start by thanking all the women in my life for showing me support, strength and kindness throughout my 22 years. Thank you for allowing me to find myself and then for me to be that person I found. You have never told me that I have to be strong all the time. You have never told me that crying makes me weak or standing up for myself makes me a bitch. You have celebrated my confidence and my independence and have never pressured me to be the kind of woman that I am not. I feel appreciated and loved every single day. 

Thank you to my mum, who has continued to call me beautiful on the days I feel most ugly. She has proved to me that whatever bad thing you are going through, you can and will make it out the other-side. That positivity is key and how to find happiness in the little things. Thank for you providing a happy and a safe home for me to grow up in and teaching me how to think for myself.

Thank you to my Nan, who has shown me that in hard times - humour is the best solution. She taught me to never back down and to always fight for what I believe in. Thank you for all the times you have took me to get ice cream (even that time you we caught a bus to catch up with the ice cream van). Thank you for being stubborn and never letting anyone dim your light. 

To my best friends - thank you for showing me courage. Thank you for listening to my worries and troubles. Thank you for making me laugh when I have found it most difficult. Thank you for allowing me to grow with you. Thank you for singing with me badly in the car. Thank you for stressing out with me. I am so grateful that I have a bunch of women who are so supportive. You're there to cheer me on, not to knock me down. I love you always. 

I am so grateful to have such strong, independent women in my life. 

We are powerful. 

We are beautiful. 

We are strong. 

I also want to say thank you to the women who came before me. Thank you to the women who fought for my voice. To the women who burned because they were different, because they werent afraid to stand for those who couldnt. Thank you to the women who didnt bow for no man. To the women who showed us that our strength comes from our kindness and that for maximum power we need to stand together. 

For that reason, I need to take this time to raise awareness that globally, 65+ million girls are currently not in education. 12 million girls are married before they are aged 18. 4 in 10 girls are living below the poverty line in America. Girls are being forced into pregnancy. Around the world, periods are still deemed as “shameful” and girls are being punished for having one. Girls are being killed for being girls.  

Following on from the women before me, I will continue to fight for the voice those women and girls currently do not have. I will use the skills i have been shown from the women around me to stand up and scream for those who currently don't have the confidence to do so. I will promise all women and girls out there that one day “there won’t be no more female leaders, there will just be leaders”. 

Women are unstoppable and I am so proud to stand amongst you. 

"Each time a woman stands up for herself, without knowing it possibly, without claiming it, she stands up for all women" - Maya Angelou 

Yours sincerely,

Jamie