Today is International Women’s Day.  It is a day where we celebrate the achievement of women and work towards gender equality and harmony.

“The story of women’s struggle for equality belongs to no single feminist nor to any one organization but to the collective efforts of all who care about human rights,” says world-renowned feminist, journalist and social and political activist Gloria Steinem. Thus International Women’s Day is all about unity, celebration, reflection, advocacy and action – whatever that looks like globally at a local level. But one thing is for sure, International Women’s Day has been occurring for well over a century – and continue’s to grow from strength to strength.”  (International Women’s Day, March 8th 2017, https://www.internationalwomensday.com/About)

I wanted to celebrate by highlight two great things that I have discovered.

Firstly I wanted to share a great initiative from Google,  Womenwill.

Womenwill is helping to raise awareness of the gender gap in technology.

Did you know?

More than half of all women still lack access to the online world!

“About 75 percent of the offline population is concentrated in 20 countries and is disproportionately rural, low income, elderly, illiterate, and female”

(http://www.mckinsey.com/industries/high-tech/our-insights/offline-and-falling-behind-barriers-to-internet-adoption)

 

Being exposed to new technology, tools means the following happens. Women start new businesses, change the way they work and live, learn more, this in turn transforms their communities and therefore is great for the whole family not just the woman. It has a flow on effect. A successful woman and successful mother gives back to her family and can do more for everyone. It is empowering.

 

Secondly, What better way to celebrate than with the first woman photographer.

Anna Atkins according to many sources is the first female photographer. She took images of plants and algae for botanical studies. Atkins learned directly from William Henry Fox Talbot, she mastered the “photogenic drawing” technique (in which an object is placed on light-sensitized paper which is exposed to the sun to produce an image) and calotypes (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Atkins) 

Murals Wallpaper is celebrating International Women’s Day and have taken inspiration from Atkins work, creating such beautiful and striking wallpaper.

20% from every sale of Anna Atkins prints in 2017 will be donated to the Fawcett Society.

The Fawcett Society is the UK’s leading charity to promote gender equality, women’s rights, in public and at home.

Atkins was 44 years old when she applied the cyanotype process to photograph algae and other marine species. She was the first woman to self publish a book with groundbreaking images, the book is Photographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Impressions.

 

If you just love this wallpaper as much as I do, you can purchase some to have in your house as well. Just go to Murals Wallpaper and they will help you out.

Enjoy and I hope these two discoveries helps you out too. Give to Womenwill and help other women with technology, and why not decorate your study or room with fabulous wallpaper by a female photographer and scientist.