By Michron Robinson
As the world celebrated International Women’s Day under the theme Gender Equality Today For A Sustainable Tomorrow on Tuesday, Barbados TODAY reached out to progressive women across the island to ask them about their hopes for other Barbadian women and what they liked most about being women.
Many of them spoke of the joys of being able to bring life into the world while others said they wanted to see Barbadian women progress academically and financially.
For teacher and businesswoman Tara Mayers, the best thing about being a woman is the gift of “bringing into being”.
“What this means is that I am proud to be a mother, a wife, a business owner, and a teacher – that in every area of my life, I am able to take something small, seeds and ideas, and bring them into being, ultimately becoming something or someone great,” she explained.
Mayers, the owner of House of Eli, a wedding planning business, said she hopes for Barbadian women to live purpose-filled lives according to God’s desires.
“It is my hope for Barbadian women to continually move towards their fullest potential – a purpose that is fully intertwined to what God has for us to do on this earth as well as the full realisation of their goals and dreams,” she said.
Mother and student journalist Thalia Clarke had this to say about womanhood: “One of the best things about being a woman, I would say, is being able to emit an energy that is inviting to other people – both men and women – while being able to care for the people around me. For me as a new mother, l like hearing ‘smile for mummy’ or ‘give mommy a kiss’. That for me is the best thing about being a woman.”
Clarke would like to see Barbadian women have a sense of security in whatever endeavour they choose to take on.
“Be it motherhood, marriage, or being an employee for someone, or being an entrepreneur, just knowing that they are secure within that particular space [would make me happy for them]. I also hope Barbadian women would be cheered on by the people around them, not only the other women but the men that are in their lives. So many times we take for granted the role that women play in shaping the lives of people around them,” she said.
Insurance agent, entrepreneur, and mother of three, Oszikia Browne added that women here have the potential to go far and succeed.
“We are from a small country so we believe that the possibilities aren’t there but then we look at Rihanna and then we see that the possibilities are just endless,” she said.
Also adding her voice to the discussion was songbird, mother, and wife Rashida Robidoux-Crane who prays Barbadian women will maintain Godly persons.
“My hope is that they continue to grow in everything that God made them to be, that their identities would not be derived from [foreign] cultures, social media, society or what others think of them but what God thinks of them – the creator of women. We need to rest in what Christ thinks of us and designed us to be,” she said.
Pitching in on the International Women’s Day well wishes was entrepreneur Cheri-Ann Walcott who wants every Barbadian woman to know that she is “strong and resilient”.
“With God’s help they can do anything once they put their minds to it,” she said. (MR)
