Tomorrow I am going to meet with a group of former teacher colleagues to celebrate International Women's Day. It is organised by a teacher at the school from which I retired 6 years ago and has become a tradition.
I have attended all but one of these gatherings since 1991 and I really enjoy the afternoon. There is social interaction between those who have left the teaching work force and those who are still in the fray. There is always an interesting female guest speaker. We talk and eat and drink and talk and I suspect I will not be making a blog entry tomorrow.
We are always given a knot of purple white and green ribbon. These are the colours of the WSPU (the suffragette organisation Women's Social and Political Union) formed by Emmeline Pankhurst in the early 20th century. They won their battle.
I think women in many countries are a long way from achieving theirs. My group of friends and I are not extreme feminists, but we will wear the purple white and green ribbon, celebrate the fact that 35 years ago female teachers in WA achieved equal pay and remind ourselves that the battle for female equality continues across the world.
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