International Women's Day

Today is International Women's Day, which means that for this 24 hour slot in the year you have my and the opposite sex's permission to do all of the following: 

Sing - with gusto - to Flawless by Beyonce. Because not only did you wake up like this, you were born like this. Plus, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie successfully defines the term feminism for those of us still unashamedly ignorant and quite frankly, scared by the concept, mid song. 

Go to the shops without feeling compelled to wear a full face of makeup. Why not embrace the bare face? And whilst in the process, you can call yourself "beautiful" without being branded in return as "vain", despite the apparent hatred of girls that talk badly of their appearance. 

Go to shops wearing loads of makeup and not be called "image obsessed" or labelled as expressing your hatred of women through doing so. 

Not make anybody a sandwich. Unless you want to, obviously.  

Put the word "Feminist" in your Twitter bio/Facebook status/write it over your body for 24 hours without striking pure terror in many of the men that you associate yourself with. Feminists hate men, in case you were wondering why. 

Talk about football or gaming or house DIY without receiving some kind of patronising reply from your fellow tweeters or male peers.

Wear blue and not pink. Or wear pink and don't wear blue. Whatever, really. 

Not call other women ugly in order to heighten your own sense of self esteem and happiness within your body. 

Use your strong linguistic skills to verbally beat up the man that just wolf whistled you in the street. Or any man that feels the only reason they would be nice to you is in order to "get a bit", for that matter.

Allow the wings of your eyeliner to dismantle the patriarchy. 

(Still tweet of the year)

Follow the lead of strong females around the globe whether they are famous or otherwise.

Drink a pint of beer in the pub, on your own or with a group of women. (Not advisable if you are under the age of 18 or prefer other drinks.)

Be who you really are, regardless of sexual preference, appearance and whether your self-identity conforms with social expectations or not. 

But most importantly, please remember that this day is exactly that - One day. Therefore all of the above are no longer applicable at the strike of 12:00 as the day shifts from 8th to 9th of March. It's a bit like a modern day Cinderella story except instead of losing a shoe, you lose all of your rights as a woman. But hey, at least we get to fall back into the comfort of conforming to social pressure, right?

Seriously now though Ladies, Happy International Women's Day! May you do all of the above not only today but everyday if you so desire. Remember just how much you're worth. 

Bethany Paige X