Today Special : Smart and Sexy Day
Smart and Sexy Day is held annually on March 13, and we are pumped up to celebrate the skills, quick-wit, and ingenuity of magnificent women in their various career fields. Do you know that according to research, women constitute about 49% of the global workforce? And the number is set to increase as women have been actively seeking jobs and employment opportunities in recent times.
HISTORY OF SMART AND SEXY DAY
Women have been in the workplace since the beginning of time, even during the age of the prehistoric men who were all hunters and gatherers. In the agrarian societies, when men moved from hunters to farmers, women were at the forefront of processing farm produce and other tasks relating to their assigned role of a support system to the men folks at the time.
Historians have discovered and posit that many societies were once matriarchal, with women at the center of ensuring the continued survival and existence of the family unit and subsequently the society. But in recent times and due to the new narratives in the global world of what women should do or not do, and which jobs are fit for which sex or not, it has been hard for a larger percentage of women to secure employment, although the gap is being steadily bridged now.
The idea of ‘Smart and Sexy’ is that women are intelligent and ingenious when it comes to career and workplace, and they also have the ability to dress with such confidence and professionalism that comes with the job. So it is a statement of feminism and competence, of beauty and brains.
Smart and Sexy Day is an initiative of the Alliance of Career Development Nonprofits (A.C.D.N.). It is held every year in several parts of the world to train and sensitize women to be self-confident in their lives as it relates to seeking job and career opportunities. The organization teaches women who attend the event job-seeking skills and how to maintain a professional wardrobe no matter how little funds they have.
SMART AND SEXY DAY ACTIVITIES
- Attend the event : The A.C.D.N. organizes events during this time of the year for sensitization and help in matters concerning job skills, dressing, and building a wardrobe for women seeking to pursue careers. Attend one of these events, which are held by their partners all over the world.
- Apply for that job : The main aim of Smart and Sexy Day is to remind every woman of their capability and strengths, their ingenuity and uniqueness, which makes them not inferior even in the workplace. As a lady, put on your nice office clothes, go out, and apply for that job you have been eyeing with all the self-confidence you can muster.
- Donate towards the initiative : Support the initiative in every way you can, as an individual or as a company, donate money or topnotch office wear. Many stores would also run discounts for women shopping for business clothes on the day, and you can contribute your quota to its success.
5 IMPORTANT FACTS ABOUT WOMEN IN THE WORKPLACE
- Women undertake a lot of unpaid work : Women take on several responsibilities at home like caring for the children, the sick and elderly, and doing house chores for long hours and without pay.
- Underrepresentation in corporate spaces : Women are grossly underrepresented in top positions of corporate organizations where men fill the bulk of these roles.
- Women are less likely to leave : Research has shown that women are less likely than men to leave a workplace, especially one in which they receive promotions that have been earned.
- Work restrictions : According to the World Bank, over a hundred countries have several work restrictions for women concerning what kinds of jobs they can do and under what conditions.
- Junior employees : Women are more likely to be mistaken for junior employees during the first encounter by those who don’t know them and their portfolio.
WHY WE LOVE SMART AND SEXY DAY
- Women are beautiful and intelligent : Smart and Sexy Day helps women reaffirm what they’ve always known; they are beautiful and intelligent.
- A boost of confidence : This day is a reminder that women are also pillars of society. The event and sensitization help them build workplace confidence as they are taught how to dress in a professional manner and handle interviews.
- Helping women into the workforce : Many women would love to work to support their families, but the problem is that the financial inability to obtain the necessary apparel for work has hindered them. This day is an opportunity to support their dreams, and help them cross the bridge to become employable and self-sufficient.
