Women’s Equality Day 2020 – Our E&S Equality Heroes

Happy Women’s Equality Day 2020 to all of our E&S customers and readers!

 With our #BeFearless motto and the brand goal of empowering women to be confident, brave and beautiful, #WED is the perfect day for us to celebrate women both past and present who have fought for the equality that we see today. Although gender inequality is far from eradicated, without the suffragettes, the Equal Pay act and many other beneficial movements, women would still be left in the shadows.

Today on the blog we have decided to give a special shout out to our E&S Equality Heroes - some female figures both past and present that have changed the way we live, work and play. We hope that you find their stories inspiring as we all embark on the continual journey to complete gender equality.

 Hélène de Pourtalès

Our first Equality hero is Hélène de Pourtalès, the first woman to compete at the Olympic Games and the first female champion. As part of the 1 to 2 ton sailing event team for Switzerland in 1900, Hélène won the medal in the very first year that females were allowed to compete in the games.

 At Elissa & Stef we are always encouraging women to strive for their own athletic goals and achievements, and who better to look up to than the very first female-gold medal winner. As years went on, more and more sports allowed women to compete and thus, more medals were won by female competitors. Just think, Hélène de Pourtalès paved the way for some of our female faves such as Jessica Ennis and Rebecca Adlington.

Malala Yousafzai @malala

Now you’d have to live under a rock to not know who Malala is, and having just graduated from Oxford University, this girl’s endless fight for equal education rights for girls is more prevalent than ever. The youngest Nobel Prize winner and a huge advocate for educational equality, Malala is a true Equality Hero – and one that has achieved so much at the tender age of 23.

 Many of us take access to full time education for granted, and in Malala’s native Swat Valley (Pakistan), the Taliban has at times banned girls from attending school whatsoever. But due to her efforts and fight for equality, she has now become “the most prominent citizen” of Pakistan in the eyes of the former Prime Minister. 

Amanda Nguyen @amandangocnguyen

Now when it comes to female businesswomen, Amanda is one of the greats. With her roles including civil rights activist, entrepreneur, and most credibly, the CEO and founder of Rise, she has also been nominated for the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize and is featured on the Forbes 30 under 30 list.

Amanda Nguyen played a major role in the passing of the Sexual Assault Survivor’s Rights Act which passed unanimously through American Congress and her company Rise is a non-profit organisation which protects the victims and survivors of sexual assault. Her work has led to the passing of rights, bills and legislations that all protect the civil rights of women across the USA and allow their voices to be heard in a society where their protection was previously insufficient.

Scarlett Curtis @scarcurtis

Now when it comes to your daily dose of Female empowerment and equality, look no further than following Scarlett Curtis. A Sunday times columnist, podcast host and 2 times best seller, Scarlett is seen as a leader and inspiration for young girls everywhere. Her career started as an Instagrammer and blogger and quickly her writing was featured in Elle, The Guardian and other major publications.

 This experience then led to her creation of The Pink Protest, a feminist activist collective that have tackled period poverty, female genital mutilation and other feminist issues. If you’re also looking to read into modern feminism and essays, then Scarlet curated the Penguin Anthology ‘Feminists Don’t Wear Pink & Other Lies’ which features the words of 52 women from Keira Knightly to Alaa Murabit. Basically, Scarlet’s work on social media and in writing is the perfect may to immerse yourself in the world of young activism!

Alaa Murabit @alaamurabit

Business, sustainability, health and economic growth – all sectors that should be equal for all. Having founded ‘Voice of Libyan Women’ in 2011 whilst completing medical school, Alaa Murabit’s work pushes for inclusive peace processes and shifts the function of women’s role in society. As she researches female security, gender violence and female involvement in government and national policy making, Alaa raises and discusses all aspects of gender equality and has spoken at conferences including TED, WIRED and the World Economic Forum.

 With a huge list of awards to her name and many more achievements than are comprehendible, Alaa contributed to Scarlett’s anthology mentioned above and has done ground-breaking work for the United Nations and became a UN Sustainable Development Goal Advocate in 2019 – what’s not to feel inspired by.

So, there we have it, a very small list of the many E&S Equality Heroes that we want you to all celebrate this #WomensEqualityDay. We would love it if you left a comment, shared the blog post or even just used today as a means of sharing and promoting your favourite influential female figures. Equality is not an end point but a continual journey – and one that we should all be embarking on together. When possible, we have added the Instagram handle for our fave females, so the least you can do is give them a quick follow to fill your feed with female power!

Author: Ellie-Jo Johnstone (E&S Blog Editor)

@elliejoj