Ways to Support International Women’s Day 2023

Lottie Passmore on 8 March 2023

Even if you aren’t aware now, you will be on 8th March when your entire Instagram feed consists of the following:

  1. Groups of girlfriends on a night out
  2. Celebrity women, probably Beyoncé, perhaps the Kardashians
  3. Someone’s mother doing amateur modelling in the 80s

All will be unified by something resembling “my women #IWD”. Once upon a time, International Women’s Day became nothing more than an opportunity to show your otherwise apathetic followers that you too are a girl-power loving, feminist queen. For one day a year, if you don’t post anything with the eponymous IWD hashtag, you are a woman hater and may as well join an Andrew Tate fan club. With the stakes this high, chances are you will come across a post of a girl you know full well to have famously and consistently slandered her friends, now aligning herself with the upper echelons of feminism. Herein lies the fallibility of ‘clicktivism’ and why a hashtag does not make you a supporter of International Women’s Day. Instead, you can show your support all year round and avoid becoming victim to an, albeit annual, micro internet trend.

Despite the above, there is obviously no problem with honouring your friends online, IF you are going to love them on the other 364 days as well. University can be a tricky time for comparison, when others are getting internships and job offers, and you seem to be faced with rejection after rejection. Excitement for them can sometimes be overshadowed by your own disappointment but it is really important, both for them and for the longevity of your friendship, if you can give them the praise they deserve. Equally, when you’re enshrined in success, don’t forget about those that are not having the best luck.

If we consider feminism to be the raising of women to reach an equilibrium with men, then it is essential that women are bolstering one another along the way. Not putting other women down to elevate yourself and being nice to your friends are things we should be doing every day, regardless of whether you are posting about it. The International Women’s Day campaign theme for 2023 is #EmbraceEquity, a hashtag with an impact. This year there is a push towards equity for inclusivity amongst all genders, with an emphasis on the fact that feminism that isn’t intersectional, isn’t feminism.

LGBTQ+ women are subjected to a double burden of sexism and sexual-orientation discrimination. A 2021 University study, conducted by Stonewall, showed that nine out of ten LGBTQ+ students have a positive or neutral Uni experience. As a reader of The Gryphon, the likelihood is that, in one way or another, you contribute to Leeds student culture. Think of your words and actions as the microbiome of the university environment and continue to make a conscious effort to make everyone’s Uni experience the best it can be; be vigilant, call out offensive jokes, challenge stereotypes and confront bias. Although LGBTQ+ experiences tend to be far improved than they once were, there is still a long way to go, so if you are wondering whether we still need International Women’s Day, the answer is YES. And if your annoying male housemate asks, “when’s international men’s day?” you can tell him it is the 19th November.

Changing The Way The Cookie Crumbles

Anushka Searle on 6 March 2020

Statistics show that 83% of chefs in the UK are male, according to data from the Office of National Statistics employment in 2018. Time then to cover three incredible chefs, who have managed to force their way into the small demographic of female chefs to show that women can be successful in a culinary world.

Claire Saffitz

Credit: Claire Saffitz x Dessert Person, YouTube

If you don’t know Claire Saffitz then where have you been? Not only is Claire Saffitz a trained pastry chef (though she recently claimed that she’s “not a chef”) and a contributing food editor of Bon Appétit magazine, she is also a YouTube sensation! Saffitz’ stardom began in 2017 when she began the show Gourmet Makes for Bon Appétit’s YouTube channel. The show consists of Saffitz trying to recreate popular snack foods as well as elevating the foods to a more gourmet standard. Indeed the rising popularity of Gourmet Makes was due to Claire’s relatable ‘low’ moments. 

Claire herself stated in an interview with Mashable that “there’s some sort of transference from people, they get stress relief from watching my stress” and for anyone that has watched the show, this is certainly true. We are used to watching culinary shows where the chef is the expert and we absorb the information as viewers but it is Saffitz’s stressful cooking that engages us with content that has more entertainment value. It is certainly uplifting to watch Saffitz go through a rollercoaster of emotions, to then seeing her happy and relieved at the end of the episode. Therefore it is this emotional vulnerability, that is often deemed a ‘weakness’ in women, which has catalysed Claire Saffitz’s success. 

Ravinder Bhogal

Credit: The Independent

Ravinder Bhogal was born in Kenya to Indian parents and grew up in London. It is this mixed culture and heritage that has enabled Bhogal to create impressive fusion dishes and menus. Bhogal is not just a remarkable chef, for she is also an award-winning food writer, journalist, TV presenter, stylist and restaurateur. Her most impressive achievement is the opening of her restaurant Jikoni in 2016. 

Jikoni is frankly an adorable restaurant with a cosy almost café-like feel to it and is designed in an overtly ‘feminine’ style, with a pale pink colour scheme and floral designs. However, it is not only Jikoni’s design that makes a statement but Bhogal’s menu too. Jikoni offers a variety of Asian comfort food, but with intriguing British, African and Middle Eastern twists, showing off Bhogul’s accumulation of travel and culture. The dish on the menu that appealed to me the most was the “Cold Silken Tofu, Peanuts, Puffed Wild Rice, Caramelised Foxnuts”, mainly because I was very intrigued by what foxnuts were, and also because it was one of the many creative vegan options on the menu. Bhogul’s interest in developing vegan dishes came about when her niece decided to become vegan. Consequently, Bhogul created a completely vegan menu for W London, which included her niece’s favourite, caramel tofu with garlic confit rice and chilli smacked cucumbers.

Samin Nosrat

Credit: People.com

Samin Nosrat introduces herself on her website ciaosamin.com with “Hi. I’m Samin Nosrat. I cook. I write. I teach” and while it’s clear and simple, it undoubtedly does not give Nosrat’s talent justice. If you’re a foodie, or simply have access to a Netflix account, then you need to watch Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat. The docuseries is based on Nosrat’s New York Times bestselling, and James Beard Award-winning book titled Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat: Mastering the Elements of Good Cooking, which is written on the premise that the way to master the culinary arts is to master these four elements. In the Netflix series, the four elements are explored through four episodes in four countries: Italy, Japan, Mexico, and her home in California, USA. Its success led to Nosrat becoming an international culinary celebrity. 

Nosrat is recognised for her talent as well as her endearing personality (please watch “Brad Makes Focaccia Bread with Samin Nosrat” on Youtube). The Guardian even described her as someone that “projects the kind of charisma that fosters a sense of familiarity, allowing audiences to believe they know her”, which is very similar to the reason behind Claire Saffitz’s success. 

Header Image Credit: Pexels