Aviatrix Amelia Earhart has become an international symbol for women's potentials.

Women can stand proud this month as the world celebrates women this March!

It means different things to different people: a celebration, a call for action, an opportunity, a cause. March could be called “Women’s Month,” kicking off with International Women’s Day on March 8^th. More than 350 events in the UK, and around 150 events in the U.S., Canada, Australia and many other countries celebrate women in 2013. In the U.S., the celebration continues for a whole month. Since 1987, U.S. presidents have designated March as Women’s History Month.

Significant gains have been made towards reaching “gender equality” in many countries but there’s still a long way to go.

In Pakistan, a Taliban gunman hunted down and shot a 14-year old girl in the face for blogging about the need for girls’ education. Malala Yousufzai came to world attention when she was nominated for the International Children's Peace Prize and participated in a UNICEF conference. The gunman reportedly tracked her down on her school bus. Luckily, she survived and has become an icon for the need for girls’ education. In Afghanistan, southern Thailand, and too many places elsewhere, the simple act of walking to school can be life-threatening.

Things are changing for the better for women. Here in Malaysia, this March, the new “Bella” awards celebrate successful women, inaugurating this annual event in conjunction with International Women’s Day.

Supported and endorsed by Malaysia’s Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development, Malaysia now has its first women’s awards show – Bella Awards 2013 – to celebrate, recognise, and honour successful women for their great achievements and inspirational contributions to the society. The top award this year went to Dato’ Ruby Khong for the strong impact she has made locally as well as internationally with her KSK soup kitchen feeding hundreds of empoverished people in Kuala Lumpur. A special Appreciation award was also made to the famous shoe designer, Dato’ Jimmy Choo, born in Penang, for his contributions to women and society through his work.

Women on the march…

The years leading up to and including WWI found women marching in the streets of London and Washington, D.C. for the right to vote. On March 3, 1913, 5,000 women marched up Pennsylvania Avenue in the first “national procession,” staged the day before Woodrow Wilson’s presidential inauguration. It was the first civil rights parade to use the nation’s capital as a backdrop.

This year in the U.S. for Women’s History Month, The Library of Congress, National Archives and Records Administration, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Gallery of Art, National Park Service, Smithsonian Institution and United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, all will “join in paying tribute to the generations of women whose commitment to nature and the planet have proved invaluable to society.”

As a natural beauty products company with a long history of service to a largely female clientele, Paul Penders International has witnessed changes in the cultures, tastes, styles, and conditions of women the world over.

We can all be proud of what women have achieved in the past year alone. And we can use this month as a time to consider and articulate what we hope for the future of our young girls in our ever-changing world.

By Teviot Fairservis.

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