Project To Inspire Women

A Story by Lore

Journal Article for Women's Day

The theme for International Women’s Day on March 8 is ‘Connecting Girls, Inspiring Futures.’

Jennifer Hackett, a model who is behind the blog Confidence Is Beautiful, is connecting and inspiring girls through her message that you don’t need to look the way media often portrays women.

“Makeup should reflect your life, when I am modelling or working I wear makeup because it is part of the job, but for everyday life I don’t need makeup to feel confident.”

To spread her message, Hackett is encouraging women to post a Facebook profile picture of themselves without makeup.

“People are so used to seeing something in print that is so digitally enhanced it is almost as if that’s okay,” said Cathy Bidini, photographer and educator at Humber College. Bidini promotes taking pride in ones own beauty/

“Just based on what I’ve seen, I feel like people need to be motivated, it’s not something everyone knows how to be, and I think it is really important to have good self-esteem,” said Hackett.

The 20-year-old model finds her self-esteem through a a healthy lifestyle, knowledge, goal setting, and positive relationships.

On International Women’s Day, as the slogan suggests, girls are not only asked to participate in the posting of makeup-less photos on Facebook, but should be doing their part in helping change attitudes and inspiring and connecting the women around them.

Denver Rodrigues, 24, a student in the creative photography program at humber, said “It’s not the makeup, it’s not the fashion, it’s not the glamour in the person’s face, it’s the character of the person on the inside.”

According to the International Women’s Day website, Canada has significantly fewer events than the U.K., and over 20 fewer events than the U.S. and Belize.

This is no surprise to Hackett.

“In some countries, International Women’s Day is a big deal where men got out and buy flowers for their sisters, mothers, girlfriends. I find living in Canada, a lot of people aren’t even aware of International Women’s Day, and what month it is in, and I feel like it should be more celebrated in Canada.”