Everyday should be International Women’s Day, but if we need a day set aside to celebrate the achievements of women in order to let people everywhere know how wonderful we are, then I’m hopping on the bridge to help you cross from the side called Don’t Know Much to the other end marked This Is One Long List.
To acknowledge the many women all over the world who’ve contributed to the fields of:
animal (veterinary, daily care, groomers, companion and animal assistant training, aquarium, zoo, or rescue site employees)
architects (buildings, monuments, and bridges, city, suburban, commercial, landscape)
armed forces (all branches, every level, serving on U.S. soil or deployed abroad)
art (creating, exhibiting, curating in all fields of photography, painting, designing, drawing, sculpting, and ceramics)
banking (tellers, investment and accounting)
beauticians (hair cutting and styling, manicures, pedicures)
builders (carpenters, house builders, commercial builders, electricians, metal workers, repairmen, contractors, laborers, repairmen)
childcare (baby sitters, nannies, au pair)
cleaners and landscapers (housekeepers, gardeners, commercial maintenance workers)
culinary arts (chefs, cooks, waitresses, dish washers)
dance (choreography, those on their feet)
documentation and archival support (librarians, secretaries, clerks, researchers)
drivers (bus, taxi, limousine)
education (classroom teaching, administration, curriculum development, clerical support, assistants, substitute teachers, all fields and subjects, all levels from pre-school to university)
engineering (civil, industrial, mechanical, electrical, software)
entertainment (acting, directors, cameramen, off- or back stage support, stage, film, theater, video, commercials)
fire, police, sheriff, marshal, and security forces (first responders whose careers protect our lives)
industry (salesmen, retail and business of every kind on the ground, in the air, at sea, in space) environment (preserving and protecting animals, land, sea, and all natural resources)
historians (analysts, observers, researchers, diarists, writers, documentarians)
journalism (researchers, documenters, writers, editing, reporters in every media)
law (attorneys, judges, legal assistants, mediators, whether defense or prosecution, in courtrooms or not)
live performers (magicians, jugglers, comedians, stand-up comedians, revue, circus, chorus line)
mail service (delivery, post office)
medicine (medical care, surgeons, researchers, nurses, psychiatrists, dentists, opticians, ophthalmologists, clinical trial technicians, support and companion care, physical and occupational therapists)
music (playing, singing, directing, composing, writing in band, orchestra, symphony, or individual performer, whether touring or permanent location, professional or amateur
philosophy (thinkers, theorists, reflectors)
politics (policy crafters, elected officials at local, state, and federal levels)
religion (clergy, laymen, spiritual guides of all religions)
science (researchers, experimental and technical developmenters and innovators in all fields)
social activism (marchers, protestors, advocates, campaigners, speakers)
social work and mental health care (adoption, personal, marriage and family counseling, substance abuse, psychology, therapy)
sports (coaching, participation in professional, local, or individual teams, and personal health training and maintenance)
volunteering (every field and task imaginable)
motherhood (everything – just everything)
If I left out the field closest to your heart, blame my lack of imagination and memory. I didn’t mean to forget or ignore you. And yes, plenty of men in these fields as well, and I thank you. But today we acknowledge women because not only do they do these jobs well, they had to fight like hungry sharks to get into many of these positions in the first place.
And now for the field closest to my heart:
Literature : poetry, memoir, and fiction of every genre and ilk.
A partial list of the authors – geniuses, innovators, writers – who have inspired me, along with one of their books that captivated me and made me want to write just like them. If I left out your favorite author, please add in the comments section.
Enjoy celebrating women. No one would be here without us.
Alice Hoffman – The Marriage of Opposites
Alice Walker – The Color Purple
Amy Tan – The Joy Luck Club
Anita Diamant – The Red Tent
Ann Patchett – Bel Canto
Anne Frank – Diary of a Young Girl
Anne Lamott – Blue Shoe
Annie Proulx – The Shipping News
Audrey Niffenegger – The Time Traveler’s Wife
Barbara Kingsolver – The Poisonwood Bible
Charlotte Bronte – Jane Eyre
Chimamanda Ngochi Adechie – Americanah
Claire Messud – The Emperor’s Children
Daphne du Maurier – Rebecca
Dara Horn – The World to Come
Denise Levertov – Selected Poems
Diane Setterfield – The Thirteenth Tale
Donna Tartt – The Goldfinch
Edwidge Danticat – Breath, Eyes, Memory
Elizabeth Strout – The Burgess Boys
Emily Bronte – Wuthering Heights
Emily Dickenson – Complete Poems
Erica Jong – Fear of Flying
Geraldine Brooks – People of the Book
Harper Lee – To Kill a Mockingbird
Isabel Allende – The House of the Spirits
J.K. Rowling – Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Jane Austen – Pride and Prejudice
Jane Hirschfield – Given Sugar, Given Salt
Jean M. Auel – The Clan of the Cave Bear
Joan Didion – The Year of Magical Thinking
Joanne Harris – Five Quarters of the Orange
Jodi Picoult – The Storyteller
Karen Blixen (Isak Dinesen) – Out of Africa
Kate Atkinson – A God in Ruins
Katherine Paterson – Bridge to Terabithia
Kathryn Stockett – The Help
Laura Esquivel – Like Water for Chocolate
Lilian Nattel – The River Midnight
Lisa See – Snow Flower and the Secret Fan
Louisa May Alcott – Little Women
Louise Erdrich – Love Medicine
Madeleine L’Engle – A Wrinkle in Time
Margaret Atwood – The Handmaid’s Tale
Marge Piercy – He, She, and It
Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings – The Yearling
Mary Oliver – Devotions
Mary Renault – The Persian Boy
Mary Stewart – The Crystal Cave
Maxine Hong Kingston – The Woman Warrior
Maya Angelou – I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
Naomi Ragen – Sotah
Natalie Goldberg – Thunder and Lightning
Nicole Strauss – The History of Love
Paula McLain – Circling the Sun
Persia Woolley- Child of the Northern Spring
Rachel Kadish – The Weight of Ink
Rachel Kushner – The Flamethrowers
Sandra Cisneros – The House on Mango Street
Sarah Dunant – In the Company of the Courtesan
Sue Monk Kidd – The Invention of Wings
Sylvia Plath – The Bell Jar
Toni Morrison – Song of Solomon
Ursula Hegi – Stones from the River
Virginia Woolf – To the Lighthouse
Willa Cather – My Antonia
Zora Neale Hurston – Their Eyes Were Watching God
Painting: A Woman Writing a Letter by Johannes Vermeer
Sharon Bonin-Pratt's Ink Flare 
Comments on: "Celebrate International Women’s Day" (33)
Sharon, how true that this should be every day but at least it’s a start! Great lists and I particularly enjoyed the literature one. One of my favourite current female writers is Rachel Joyce and as part of the special day today the paper ran an article about the first woman to climb the Matterhorn called Lucy Walker … although even this did not gain her membership of the coveted Alpine Club!
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I’m going to look up Rachel Joyce – thanks for a provocative tip, Annika.
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Great list. So many amazing women and incomparable achievements.
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Jacqui, you could add your name to several of these areas of achievement. 😀
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You’ve chosen one of my favourite paintings to go along this truly wonderful post, Shari! Both lists of yours are amazing – it’s so important to reflect about what women in general have achieved in the last 100 years. Both World Wars did their part in the development that turned housewives and mothers (both extremely difficult jobs already) into all those amazing women contributing to the world as it now is.
And so many of the authors you named I’ve read as well and truly admire their genius and work. And those I haven’t read yet are going to meticulously copied down now to add to my ever-growing TBR. Thank you!
Did you know – today is the first time the International Women’s Day is an official holiday here in Germany? Only in Berlin for now but surely others will follow. All I can say is – about time!
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What a wonderful recognition for women to be so officially honored in Berlin. It’s been talked about on all the news shows here in the U.S., but one of the biggest morning programs featured a male singing group, right after mentioning International Women’s Day – I guess it’s always going to be baby steps.
Vermeer is one of my absolute favorite artists. I even took a class that taught his glazing style over sepia oil layers. Very time consuming process but it revealed why his paintings are so luminous.
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That’s wonderful to hear that the holiday even made news in the US!
And how tremendously awesome that you took a class that taught his glazing style – that’s something I hope to do too someday. I have a particular fondness for Netherlandish painters but Vermeer is right on top of my list. 😊
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Sarah, you might enjoy The Last Painting of Sarah de Vos by Dominic Smith, a book I loved so much, I’ve read it twice – and will read again. It was inspired by the artist Judith Leyster, a woman whose art I adore and 17th century lifestyle I admire.
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Oh! I loved that book so much!! What a lovely coincidence that you have read it too, Shari! It was such a wonderful read and I adored every single page of it. 🙂 Wish there were more books like it!
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Dominic Smith is an outstanding writer and though I’ve enjoyed all his books I’ve read, Sarah De Vos is his best, in my opinion. I just finished The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton – a (add any positive modifier you can think of here) story I couldn’t put down, and though not about painters, it is about 17th century Amsterdam – a world where women were held under many male thumbs.
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We really do have the same taste in books, Shari, I’ve also read The Miniaturist by Burton and really loved it!! 😀 She wrote so wonderfully about 17th century Amsterdam that I could all see it before my inner eye. 🙂
I have to add that I really love historical fiction – it’s just the perfect way of being wonderfully entertained and learn something at the same time when the author did her/his research well. 🙂
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Sarah, you wrote exactly how I feel about historical fiction and why I love it so much. Jessie Burton is a masterful writer – that helps.
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A wonderful list of women and their professions, Shari! Don’t forget the contributions to the recreation and leisure industry (of which I was proud to be a part): the women who are directors of community recreation and parks departments, the recreation therapists who work with all ages, wounded warriors and those with mental and physical conditions and disabilities (I’m sure there were RTs in your mother’s day care home), Park Rangers, hotel clerks, day camp counselors, lifeguards, well , you get it!
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Terri, I’m so glad you added to the list. Given that my dad was absorbed by observing and protecting the natural world, and teaching us kids to have the same respect and affection, I don’t know how I left off the important contributions of women in these fields. I even used to teach art through a community parks and rec department, teaching the kids how to look carefully at their environment and to watch native creatures – then drawing or painting instead of killing or collecting them. And if you can’t get out to enjoy this big beautiful world (I was a trained Boy Scout leader who hiked all over with my sons) then you’re missing a huge part of life enrichment. Thank you, friend.
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Well…it’s my job as a leisure educator! We are all impacted by it! Maybe because leisure is all around us we don’t think of it as a career for folks–1 in 20 jobs are in the leisure industry!
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1 in 20 jobs are in the leisure industry! I didn’t know that fact – fascinating. Good for you being a leader.
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what a fabulous list! thanks for putting all the work into it for our sakes!
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You’re most welcome, Daal. You’re on those lists, in many places.
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you’re always so kind, Sharon — & you inspire me. lately have been contemplating the work-horse schedule of Anne Tyler. btw – are you on goodreads?
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Oops, should have included Anne Tyler on this list. Thanks for the reminder, Daal.
Thank you for saying that I inspire you – that means a lot to me as I’ve always found your blog awesome.
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takes one to know one, my friend 🙂
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😀 ❤
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A wonderful list, Sharon.
Women’s history has been buried, our involvement in various professions and accomplishments hidden from us, in the hopes we forget and allow ourselves to be forced into a single, narrow life role.
I cheer each time a historian pieces together the past, removes the blinds, and allows us to see how much we have achieved over the course of history. And I cheer for your wonderful blog that keeps us grounded in the present, with a reminder of how much we are doing today.
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You and I cheer the strong, brilliant women, also the resilient ones on whom the world depends. Thank you for your eloquent honor to me. I hope you see yourself in the several parts of the lists where your name is written.
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Such a fabulous list of authors! Some of my favorite stories of all time! 😍And yep, I’m a man, who was inspired at a very young age to be creative by his own awesome mother and the beautiful illustrations of Beatrix Potter and Peggy Fortnum (Paddington Bear Books). These women and so many more are still my role models. Every day should indeed by International Women’s Day!
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Thank you for your contribution, Charlie. You’ve often pointed out how much your mom supported you, and that’s always made me smile.
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What a wonderful list, Sharon! A couple more authors for you off the top of my head: Rachel Naomi Remen, M.D. (Kitchen Table Wisdom and My Grandfather’s Blessings) – (your writing sometimes reminds me of hers). Also, Anais Nin (her many journals). Your own list of authors includes many of mine. 🙂 Thanks for this post!
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Betty, thank you for your contribution – there are many left off this list who should be included.
And thank you for that incredible compliment.
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I am wondering when International Women’s Day was created? I do think that earmarking a day to celebrate women and their achievements makes people think about the topic, which is of course a good thing. I loved your literature list which included many of my favorites: Barbara Kingsolver, Amy Tan, Alice Hoffman, Isabelle Allende to name just a few.
Peta
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Good question about when IWD began, but I don’t know. I bet you could you add to this list.
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Apologies for my lateness to this post. None one on this glorious planet would be here if it were not for the sacrifices of a woman. Bravo to all of you.
Where would we be without you.
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Andrew, I remember the loving posts you’ve written about your mother, to whom you gave all the credit for raising a good son. Please add her name to this list, where she belongs.
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Thank you for this touching reply. Means a lot.
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