Today is International Women’s Day.
Imagine a world with gender equality. A world free from prejudice, stereotypes and discrimination. A world that is diverse, equitable and inclusive. A world where difference is valued and celebrated. Together we can establish equality for women. Collectively we can all embrace #Equity.
I’ve been fortunate enough to have so many incredible women who have influenced my life and how I think about gender and gender equality. My mother, Cecilia Feld, is the first of them.
As I was growing up, my parents modeled excellent behavior for me. They were equal partners in their relationship. While they were an incredible couple, my mother was independent from my father. She was a leader in her community, not afraid to take on anything and was unrestricted by the social norms of the time. As a full-time artist, she was professionally ambitious. She made a mark not just as a mother but as a woman, a professional and a lifelong learner.
When I went to college at MIT, which was 80/20 male/female at the time (they’ve made a lot of progress since 1983) and was suddenly faced with a lack of gender equality everywhere, at least what gender baseline I had Equity was felt.
Cecilia has explored working with many different media over the past 50+ years as an artist. She has always been a photographer and has extensively documented her journey with photographs. In honor of her on International Women’s Day 2023, please enjoy photographs of women from some of the places in the world that my mother has taken over the years.
