This day has been significant for me since I was living in Italy at the age of 20. I remember walking around Perugia during my lunch break from school, shopping and getting coffee, and a couple of men handed me some flowers. It was a bunch of purple flower and something else that reminded me of a daisy.
At first I said, “No grazie. Non ho soldi.” (No, thank you.
I don’t have money.”
But the man insisted, “Prego, prego. É la festa delle donne.” (Please,
please. It’s Women’s Day. )
At the time, I didn’t understand. I had never heard of “Women’s Day.” I had to
ask a shopkeeper what Women’s Day was.
“You Americans don’t know International Women’s day?”
And I hadn’t known. It was never something that was ever
mentioned when I was growing up (or if it was, it wasn’t made enough of a big
deal that I remember it). I remember
thinking at the time how great it was to have a day that is recognized
internationally to celebrate women.
As there are many influential women in my life, I would
spend some time celebrating them here. Please be aware, this will not be an
exhaustive list because time and practicality dictate that I will not get to
them all.
However, before I start, let me briefly share a short
history of International Women’s Day from Wikipedia. The first women's day was
observed in February 1909 when 15,000 women marched through the streets of New
York demanding improved pay, shorter hours and voting rights. The day was
mostly celebrated by socialist movements and communist countries in the
following decades. In 1975, the United Nations proclaimed the year
International Women’s Year and christened March 8 as Women’s Day. There is a
much richer history of this event, but you can find all that information on the
Interwebz.
Influential Women to me:
1.
My Grandmother, Leslie Jagiello: All the women in my family are amazing and I am proud to know them. However, if you
want to see someone that has a fire burning inside her, you just need to turn
to my grandmother. She is over 90 years old and keeps saying she’ll live to be
100. She is stubborn, silly, intelligent, a hard worker, and very loving parent
& grandparent. She loves babies and
bourbon. She took me on so many adventures when I was a child from cruises
through Annapolis harbor, to farther away retreats in the Bahamas.
She has showed me just how strong a woman
can be even after enduring heartbreaking hardships. She inspires me every day
with her actions – she never acts her age – and her (sometimes) outspoken-ness.
She is never afraid to be herself. And, even at 91, she is beautiful. I am
looking forward to being a feisty, whisky-drinking, laughing, travelling old
lady, just as she is.
2.
My Mom, Marian (Jagiello) Clark: If knowing my grandmother wasn’t enough to
understand the strength women have in my family, then knowing my mom would hit
it home. She is definitely one of the strongest women that I know. I mean,
after all, she had to deal with ME as a child. :P As ½ of the pair that raised
me, I learned a lot from her including how to be open-minded, tolerant, kind,
loving, fashion-forward, and to take care of myself (emotionally, physically,
and in life). Her continuous challenging
has made me strive to be a better person and has set my own expectations of
myself high. She’s silly as hell and I kind of love it when she gets drunk at
social gatherings and dances. She’s also
seriously good at sewing – a trait that I unfortunately didn’t inherit. Again, she’s beautiful. I got good genes!
3.
Women Fighters: I want to say first that
I am always in awe of women fighters (fencers, heavies, martial artists, MMA
etc.) but I would like to highlight three in this post from the SCA.
-
Tatiana Bonieux (Goss): Tatiana is an
inspiration for so many reasons. She is a five-foot-nothin’ fencer who is just
totally fierce. She will stab you in the
face before you realize she’s even moved. More than once she’s stabbed me and I
have fought on for a few moments before I realized that I was dead. Much how I
imagine a real sword fight going with her in fact…Recently, she got her Master
of Defense peerage and since then she has just exploded. I am so excited to see
her living up to the role with both her mentoring and her personal growth. Not that she didn’t have these qualities
before – she always has – but since the MoD-ding she is no longer just a (very)
skilled fighter but has grown into a peer.
Her support of the fencing community and fencers individually is
inspiring. Every time she says “Good job, Lana!” I know she means it. And every
time she apologizes for maybe missing something, I know she means it. Tatiana,
in addition to being fierce & fast, is also earnest, humble and very
positive. All of these qualities are those that I fully admire.
-
Mahara Vandale (Jennifer Thomson): Mahara
has been an inspiration, not only for me, but for an entire household. House Vandale was formed in 2013 but the
formation was really only official in name. Before that time, people flocked
around Mahara and her husband, Tom, and they created a community. Any who knows
me, would know that community is something that I value very highly. Mahara is
inspiring because she is always welcoming to anyone who wants to be a part of
her life. She is also a talented fencer
and artisan. She’s always willing to help and support her friends and even her acquaintances.
The most notable thing about her personality is that she is easily delighted and
excited about the cool things in the world, and that her friends are interested
in. I have learned a lot from her in her prowess and positive attitude.
-
Yazida bint Zarif (Yaz Ostrowski): A true
renaissance woman: talented, creative, martial, generous, sarcastic, and kind.
She taught me so much when I was a punk kid just starting out. To this day I
still have some of her hand me down garb! She showed me the joy that was the
SCA with a healthy dose of reliquaries, cooked babies, cat training, and other
shenanigans.
