Women's Day Reflections
Dear Lazies,
As spring moves into overdrive and we’re all able to crawl out from under the seasonal depression blankets, at last. We hope you’ve all been out-and-about outside, making the best of this in-between weather. Spring has sprung, and hopefully, given all our lives a jolt out of the quarter-year slump.
This month, Lazy Women is staying very on brand, and celebrating International Women’s Day Month, by focusing on the works highlighting women’s identities and issues, as well as taking stock of Lazy Women’s events in the past month.
Your Lazies
As we reflect on a month dedicated to uplifting and empowering women whilst continuing to fight for gender equity, the Lazy Women community are sharing how they celebrated International Womens Day on Friday 8th March 2023.
Lazy Frosso attended their lab’s exposition at Sorbonne University: ‘The women of ISIR: portraits of women moving research forward.
“They took photos of all the women in the lab explaining what’s their role. We do research in AI and Robotics, and we are really underrepresented, so I think it’s a great initiative to show that we DO exist actually. I was pretty shocked myself!”
Lazy Eloïse shared her perspective on International Womens Day. Here’s what she has to say about it:
I am the “Valentine’s Day is too commercial” of March 8th.
International Women’s Rights Day has always been more of a political day to me and has not ever really been about celebration. To put it into perspective, I am the “Valentine’s Day is too commercial” of March 8th.
I don’t like that politicians give speeches on how women are the beating heart of their nation, when they pay us less than our male counterparts, restrict our access to healthcare and set our aggressors free.
I don’t like that men give us roses on the street when they were catcalling us two days ago. I don’t like that radios play female artists for the whole day when they make fun of them for only singing about love when their mic is off.
I don’t like that men go around yelling that everything is always about women. when is there ever going to be an International Men’s Rights Day?, when they purposefully ignored their male friends’ cries for help and higher likelihood to die of suicide for the past 364 days and continue to do so as soon as the clock hits midnight again.
So instead of celebrating, of saying thank you for the rose, thank you for passing that law, thank you for promoting female artists, I read, post, make demands, have discussions, and will be doing so for as long as there is a need for an International Women’s Rights Day to exist.
This year, I am spending March 8th at a two-women comedy show in Paris. Switching up my habits? I thought. But then I realized: two women, on stage, in front of a mostly female audience, talking about societal expectations, womanhood and feminism, this has got to be almost as political as it can get.
What did you do for International Womens Day? From celebrating your womanhood with friends or protesting for a ceasefire in Gaza to reclaiming your space in a male-dominated place or educating yourself on fatphobia - let us know in the comments!
Make sure to update your agenda with what’s going on in April.
We’ll host 2 Pod Talks:
On April 4th, join Aida and Maria Chiara to dive deeper into the topics of the 5th podcast episode! We will be sharing more info about the PodTalk on the 6th episode soon, so make sure to follow us on socials not to miss the sign up link! Our PodTalks are open to everyone ;)
Lazy Women Podcast Updates: 'Making it' in Western Europe
5️⃣ 'Making it' in Western Europe: music, research, and solidarity with Aida
In the fifth episode of ‘Making it’ in Western Europe, Lucie was talking with Aida. Aida came to Italy as a refugee from Bosnia when she was a child and has since perfectly integrated into the Italian society. Through her research, she is now re-discovering her roots and mother tongue and the inter-related nature of her Yugoslav and Italian identities. This was a really powerful conversation about trauma, human solidarity, and connections through music and we are immensely grateful to Aida for sharing her life story with us.
6️⃣ 'Making it' in Western Europe: escape, beauty, and stereotypes with Julie
In the sixth episode of ‘Making it’ in Western Europe, Zsofi and Lucie talked to Julie, Lazy Women's new newsletter editor. Originally from Russia, Julie was arrested for her involvement in anti-war demonstrations and - with a short stop in Armenia - ended up in Paris.
This was a difficult but powerful conversation about leaving everything behind, beauty standards, new languages, loneliness and the 'need' to fit in, Slavic stereotypes, the importance of having and building communities, and what it feels like to be a Russian woman in Europe right now.
Special thanks to everyone behind the production.
Cover art: Juli / Music: Sophie M / Podcast idea and production: Lucie and Zsofi / Community: Dorina / Social media: Dinara
Illustration by Tímea Terenyei (Check out her Instagram and website)
Make sure to check out our March articles 👇
- CELEBRATION OR POLITICAL ACTION? MIXED FEELINGS ABOUT WOMEN’S DAY by Eloïse Batanero, illustrated by Tímea Terenyei. In this piece, Eloïse is reflecting on how the International Women's Day became more of a political day to her, and stopped being about celebration.
- DOWN THE DRAIN BY JULIA FOX: LESSONS FROM THE PARTY GIRL TURNED PATRIARCHY DISRUPTOR by Farah Khan, illustrated by Selen Sarikaya, a thorough review of the bestselling Fox’s memoir.
- DARING TO HOPE: THE POWER OF WOMEN’S GROUPS THROUGH THE AGES by Lauren Powell, illustrated by Janka Sára Balázs. Lauren questions herself: what makes an effective women’s group and tries to find the answer via books, her own thoughts and podcasts.
Also, have a look at Zsofi’s take on starting a media business in Europe!
Of course, we can’t leave you without our March list - this time it’s a movie list from Lazy Chaharika.
Growing up our list of female role models are usually limited to women from our families - mothers, aunts, grandmothers. However, there was always one woman who’s far from our reach but all we really wanted to be; it was usually the woman on screen. This time, I’ll be looking at strong female characters from some of my favourite films, who could possibly inspire you too.
Sandra from Anatomy of a Fall - Labeled as cold and selfish, the entire film focuses on how Sandra is painted out to be her husband’s murderer as she failed to fit in the cookie-cutter image of the stereotypical, perfect wife. She’s career-driven, vocal, sexually liberated and at times, the source of her husband’s insecurity. Sandra is judged for doing the things any man would easily get away with, but she sticks to her guns and fights to prove her innocence.
Jennifer from Jennifer’s Body - Megan Fox’s call to fame, Jennifer’s Body is a satire on the usual horror films, which pander to the male gaze at the expense of female objectification. Jennifer, the ultimate cool girl who hypersexualizes herself as a way to trap and sacrifice young men, is a commentary on a woman who takes her sexuality into her own hand, and essentially, weaponises the male gaze against men.
Ria from Monsoon Wedding - One of India’s first indie films that made it big in Bollywood, and directed by the renowned Mira Nair, Monsoon Wedding follows the story of a traditional upper- middle class Indian wedding in the midst of organising a wedding. Ria, the bride’s sister, is seen as a rebel but not in the traditional sense, she’s burdened by her family’s constant nagging for her to get married, but doesn’t hold it against them. She listens, but eventually does as she pleases. When a distant relative of the family arrives, it is revealed that they’d molested her when she was young. Ria walks away from an opportunity to advance in her career, as it goes against her beliefs.
We want to thank Tímea Terenyei for her wonderful contribution in March’s newsletter’s illustrations! You can check out her works here: her Instagram and website.
