What's the theme for IWD?

And why is there two of them?

International Women’s Day, like so many advocacy movements, started as a grassroots activist protest. 

IWD was celebrated globally for over 60 years before the United Nations adopted it in the 1970s. Every year the UN designates a theme for IWD. This year it is ‘Count Her In: Invest in Women. Accelerate Progress.’ It calls for increased investment in women to move gender equity forward. 

But you might see another theme around. It might even be the theme for an IWD event you’re going to. This non-UN theme is ‘Inspire Inclusion’. 

If you think that sounds like a bit of a nothing platitude, you’re right. 

For years, a privately owned website internationalwomensday.com have created a different theme to the official UN theme. But why? The website is owned by a management consultancy called Aurora Ventures. Every year, they work with their corporate partners to find a more palatable theme for the corporates who fund this website and marketing campaign to commercialise and co-opt IWD. 

When you look back at the themes of the corporate site, compared with the official UN theme, you can see why they want to create a different, softer theme. One where they feel more comfortable saying the pretty words and posting the feel-good content, rather than actually taking meaningful action or interrogating ways they may need to change.

 The themes are vague, they’re catchy, they make for a nice hashtag. They also are meaningless but sound good to the Western, white feminist ear. They put so much money into it that they can be the number one Google ranked site if you search for International Women’s Day. And they rely on people looking for the shortcut to ticking off their IWD related events or content, people who wouldn’t question the theme or why for an official international day of the UN they aren’t on a UN website. 

Why does it matter if there is a different theme? Because it undermines and takes away from not only the work of the UN but of the actual meaning and call for action that the official theme should be. 

Invest in women. Accelerate Progress - a very clear call to action

Inspire Inclusion - honestly, what does this even mean? 

The corporate themes across the years have been watered down platitudes designed to make corporations feel like they’re doing ‘enough’ on ‘the women thing’. These themes have no action or impact, they don’t really mean anything. It is a fluffier, more catchy, less substantial theme to make people feel good about IWD, not move the needle on gender equity. And certainly not considering the fight for gender equity outside the mostly white corporate offices these themes are designed for. 

Of course, no one owns IWD, and the corporates behind internationalwomensday.com can do what they like (although I wish they wouldn’t). But when you’re looking around at IWD events, and your own workplace, take note of the theme they use. But beyond that, who benefits and what is the outcome of IWD events? 

Are they cupcakes and platitudes and girl-power-look-how-far-women-have-come? Or are they addressing systemic barriers, including intersectional voices, and pushing for changes? 

IWD this year is less than 2 weeks after the gender pay gap data will be released. Will your workplace ‘inspire inclusion’ or will they ‘invest in women’ and take action to close the gender pay gap? 

I don’t say any of this to denigrate any events or organisations who, either knowingly or unknowingly, use the corporate theme. But I do raise this so we’re aware of how corporations try to water down the impact of IWD. And be mindful about who is benefiting from all this.