Happy International Women’s Day!

I was recently invited to take part in a campaign entitled The She Word to celebrate International Women’s Day by featuring in a video about women in business which you can watch here, and dyeing my hair purple. As regular Bird’s Eye Viewers will know, I’d never dyed my hair until last year (at 41; I know – late bloomer) when I finally took the plunge and went pink. Highlighter pen pink, to be exact. Hmmm. Luckily it faded very quickly. (You can see how it looked here.) Having arrived late to the hair dyeing party, I’m keen to make up for lost time and try out all of the colours of the rainbow, so when I was asked to dye my hair purple I was more than happy to oblige, and also got my nails done to match (well, in for a penny, in for a pound, eh?).

So, why purple?

“According to Pantone – this year’s colour is the Ultra Violet shade of purple. The colour purple historically represents efforts to achieve gender equality. In support of achieving gender equality, we’re #DyeingForProgress by dyeing our hair purple. Will you be joining us in the purple power for equality?”    –  The She Word 

On the International Women’s Day website, they say:

“A passionate purple hue is set to top colour palettes in 2018, complementing the International Women’s Day #PressforProgress campaign theme, which highlights feminism and international efforts to achieve wide-scale gender parity.

Colour trendsetter Pantone has selected “ultra-violet” as its 19th “Color of the Year” to communicate “originality, ingenuity and visionary thinking that points us towards the future.”

Purple is historically associated with efforts to achieve gender equality. In this context it was first used alongside green and white as the colours of the Women’s Social and Political Union, the organisation that led Britain’s women’s suffrage movement in the early 20th century.

For suffragettes fighting for the right to vote, purple represented “the royal blood that flows in the veins of every suffragette,” according to the book Women’s Suffrage Memorabilia: An Illustrated Historical Study by Kenneth Florey. White represented purity and green represented hope.

In the 1960s and 1970s, use of the colour was revived by feminists to represent the Women’s Liberation movement as a tribute to the suffragettes.”

You can watch the complete video here:

Cool, huh? I’m proud to be supporting IWD2018 and thankful to have been chosen for this campaign. I’m also thankful that the colour of gender equality isn’t orange.

Sam x

Fancy reading my back-story before you go any further? You can find my other blogs at:

www.costaricachica1.blogspot.com
www.samgoessolo.blogspot.com
www.mummymission.blogspot.com
www.worldwidewalsh.blogspot.com

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