International Women’s Day Assembly: Celebrating the Value of Every Woman

In this year’s International Women’s Day assembly, Mrs McNally encouraged students to look beyond the usual celebrations of famous or record-breaking women and think about the value of women’s lives in a broader way.

The assembly explored how, although society often celebrates women who are exceptional, there can be powerful cultural messages suggesting that women’s value fades as they age. In the assembly, students were invited to question the assumption that women’s value has a timeline and reflect on the pressures women face around appearance and beauty standards.

Mrs McNally used a range of examples to bring these ideas to life, from the criticism directed at world-famous Cambridge classicist Professor Mary Beard, to the arguments of Naomi Wolf in her seminal text: The Beauty Myth. Popular culture also featured: an assembly from Mrs McNally would not be complete without a reference to Greta Gerwig’s Barbie as well as something from Taylor Swift. Swift’s song Nothing New perfectly explores society’s obsession with youth.

The assembly ended with a powerful reminder that International Women’s Day is not only about celebrating exceptional women, but about recognising that every woman’s life is important. As Mrs McNally concluded, regardless of achievements or appearance, every woman, at every stage of her life, has dignity, worth and value.