• Celebrating International Women’s Day, Belle Lingerie explores the question, “What is a woman?”
  • Bloggers Georgina Grogan and Debz Atkins discuss their thoughts on Womanhood
  • Belle Lingerie owner Janine Dunne encourages women to strive for success

For International Women’s Day, Belle Lingerie explored the multifaceted nature of womanhood through the voices of women bloggers.

This March 8th, the world comes together to celebrate International Women’s Day, a day dedicated to recognising the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements and impacts of women.

International Women’s Day was first established in 1911 with enthusiastic encouragement from Clara Zetkin, a German advocate for women’s rights. The day became a mainstream and globally acknowledged day of recognition when it was adopted by the United Nations in 1977.

Johnson’s dictionary, the oldest recognised English dictionary, defines woman simply as “The female of the human race”, and whilst this is the very literal meaning of the word, it does not encompass everything that a woman is. A woman can be many things. She is first a daughter; she may be a sister and has the potential to become both a mother and a wife, but these titles do not define her.

A woman can be career-driven but can also be family-focused. She might be a matriarch or a political leader. Women are diverse beings, capable of taking on many forms; a woman can come from any and all backgrounds, and a woman can take on many shapes. This is why 2024’s International Women’s Day theme, “Inspire Inclusion”, is so important.

Georgina, a full-time blogger and owner of shemightbeloved.com and its sister blog shemightbe.co.uk, believes that being a woman “means embracing my body, regardless of what it looks like;” and said that “As a confident plus-size woman and also as a disabled person, being a woman means a lot of different things to me. I have spent over 11 years sharing my journey through my blogging… Being a woman means creating a community to support and lift fellow women… It means advocating for inclusivity, accessibility and equality.”.

This year’s theme is especially important for Georgina, who expressed that she embraced her womanhood by amplifying and lifting the voices of others from marginalised communities. She went on to say, “It’s so important to me to be advocating for inclusivity, empowering and supporting other women, and challenging stereotypes. By doing so, I aim to inspire others and create a more inclusive and empowering narrative of womanhood.”.

Another popular blogger also reiterated the sentiment and importance of uplifting fellow women. Debz Aiken, who runs the successful blog  wannabeprincess.co.uk, often talks on her blog about the importance of empowering fellow women. She said, “I love sharing plus size fashion options with people, but mainly to educate people that wearing what you want is allowed, even when the social standards we are all used to attempt to tell us otherwise.”

Debz explained, “As a child, it was about learning where I fit in, choosing friendship groups and sometimes bending to fit in.” However, she then went on to say, “Now, I am unapologetically me, and I don’t have to bend to fit in. Instead, the right people have found me.”

Through embracing oneself and one’s own identity, women are able to feel more self-confident and be their authentic selves. It is the duty of every woman to ensure our fellow women have the confidence to be their unrepentant, authentic selves and to push each other to strive to be the best that we can.

Belle Lingerie, which is an online retailer of lingerie and swimwear, prides itself on being a diverse and inclusive business that aims to cater to women of all shapes, sizes and ethnicities. Janine Dutton, owner of Belle Lingerie, had this to say: “Women are really capable of doing anything. Your education or background doesn’t matter. My business started from selling a few items on eBay; now I’m running a million-pound business!” She went on to say, “It’s important that women push boundaries as well as themselves and aim to achieve their goals and dreams.”

This International Women’s Day, have a think about what a woman is to you! Are there any inspirational women in your life?

Share your own experiences on social media using #WomensdaywithBelle.