WOW at 15, the Royal Albert Hall – 8th March
Last weekend, I was truly lucky to have attended the 15-year anniversary of WOW (Women of the World) celebration at the Royal Albert Hall. It was an unforgettable amalgamation of some of the fiercest women who have been and are fighting alongside us in the journey towards gender parity and who, in their individual acts of rebellion within the fields of music, theatre, literature, politics, and more, have helped us to accelerate action for a better tomorrow. And after this spectacular celebration, there was no way I could return empty-handed.
What started out as a brisk scribble on a napkin 15 years ago by the hand of Jude Kelly (the founder of WOW) has since erupted into 150 festivals over 6 continents, reaching more than 5.7 million people – a statistic that left me absolutely dumbstruck, and one that I feel extremely privileged to be a part of. However, it was by no means a single-handed feat, Kelly emphasised in her opening speech, the message of which heartily rung throughout the night; that there is no such thing as an individual accomplishment in the feminist movement, but rather a collective effort, built on the strength and unity of the countless voices, ideas, and actions of those who came before us and for those to come.
After one of her other WOW events, Kelly initiated a poll for her audience to complete after the show. The results revealed that 64% of the audience said they went away and made a change in their own lives or acted as a result of attending the event. Statistically speaking, this meant that out of the 4000 people in the Royal Albert Hall that night, roughly 1,440 of us would leave the event and do (and I’ll have to dilute what Jude really said here, or I’ll get exiled from Unconquered Peaks forever) … nowt. From this, I realised that I couldn’t be a part of the 5.7 million WOW supporters AND do nothing about it; those clauses coexisting just didn’t sit right with me.
So, without any further delay, I wish to act on what I saw by sharing four takeaways with you from “the stories, the laughter, the fights and the future” of the evening (put beautifully by Sandie Okoro, the Chair of WOW).
- Feminism for All
It’s an amateur oversight to assume that celebrations such as ‘Women of the World’ and ‘International Women’s Day’ are reserved only for the gender that dominates the title. And I must admit that I, before the event, naturally had an inkling – an ignorant inkling – that WOW was just by women for women. However, it only took entering the Hall to realise my blunder in seeing just how populated the audience was with people that weren’t women, and, as the evening unfolded, it became abundantly clear that WOW, and International Women’s Day for that matter, was a space for everyone, regardless of gender, to come together to celebrate a shared vision for a world of inclusion, not exclusion.
Just within the first Act of the night, I was quite rightly put in my place in listening to Jude Kelly say: “If you are a woman or know a woman, WOW is for you”, which Annie Lennox later backed up “We need men. We need men to be our eyes. We can advocate very well for ourselves, but men need to be in partnership, otherwise we’re never going to reach the heights that we aspire to.”
And to really drive the message home, within Okoro’s opening speech, she championed a crying baby in the audience: “How lovely! Our youngest WOW! Welcome to the family. See, it’s wonderful; all generations, all people, all welcome”, reinforcing WOW’s transcension of age barriers too.
- 2. Feminism is in Jeopardy?
Annie Lennox, known for her work in Eurythmics with Dave Stewart, famously adopted a more masculine persona on stage, marked by a bleach blonde buzz cut and tailored suits. She explained this shift as a way to challenge the idea that she was merely Stewart’s female counterpart, as well as a way to navigate the pressures surrounding feminism in the 70s. Before the shift in persona, Lennox recalled feeling guilty at the time, saying, “I liked nice shoes and lipstick… and these things made me feel excluded, like I wasn’t worthy of being a feminist.” Kelly shared similar sentiments, describing it as “a treacherous terrain to be a public feminist.” Both women opened my eyes to the fact that feminism, like any movement, acts like a pendulum; despite its message of unity, feminism can sometimes veer into toxicity, creating a rigid and exclusive standard that alienates those who don’t conform.
Though we have luckily progressed since the 1970s, as evidenced by the inclusivity of the current day (as I cited in the previous takeaway), we have to remind ourselves of our motives and origins in order to accelerate forward.
Our roots; What brought me to the WOW event? To see Angela Davis in 3D.
As one of the most sought-after speakers in the world, she is often only seen in 2D – on screens and in books – so, I felt incredibly lucky to witness her live, and I’d love to share some of her enchanting, composed, and wise insights with you.
For those unfamiliar, Angela Davis, a political and feminist activist, rose to prominence in the 1970s after being harassed and fired from UCLA for her political beliefs, and later wrongfully imprisoned for kidnapping, murder, and conspiracy charges. She came close to execution on death row before the world rallied behind the ‘Free Angela’ movement, leading to her release. Davis always was and still is a radical activist, aside from the FBI manhunt, Davis supported the Communist Party USA, campaigned with the Black Panther movement, and authored influential works like ‘Women, Race & Class’ (1981) and ‘Are Prisons Obsolete?’ (2003) and more.
In conversation with Jude Kelly, Davis reminded us of the how the working-class origins of International Women’s Day are often overlooked: “But I think sometimes we forget the working-class origins of IWD. We celebrate today on March 8, 2025, because of the work that was done by working class women…” – Davis.
I certainly had no idea that it originated a century ago and across the globe, as it seemed to me that that IWD gained global attention roughly 15 years ago – so, I was curious to know more.
International Women’s Day (IWD) originated from the struggles of working-class women for trade unions and suffrage. In 1908, women workers in New York demonstrated for union rights and the vote, leading to the first permanent trade unions for women in the USA. Inspired by these actions, European socialist women, led by Clara Zetkin, proposed IWD at the 1910 Copenhagen Conference, with March 8th chosen as the date. And the day the Russian Revolution 1917 began was no coincidence: on March the 8th Russian women workers sparked the revolution with a strike for peace and bread, and Lenin officially recognised it as a national holiday in the Soviet Union in 1922. Because of these Soviet origins of IWD, IWD remained largely ignored in the West during the Cold War, however its universality was eventually recognised by the United Nations in 1975.
Davis continued: “…and that reminds us to be very careful when we use the category ‘women’ and to recognise that the category embraces such diversity. If we’re not careful enough and we forget about the diversity, then we imagine women as homogeneous.”
And indeed, this homogeneity can lead to oversimplified narratives that fail to capture the intersectional voices (from different cultures, races, religions, classes, and backgrounds) that reflect the true complexity of womanhood.
It’s clear that International Women’s Day is more than just a global celebration; it’s a reminder of the ongoing struggles faced by women of all backgrounds, especially those from working-class and marginalised communities that still struggle with poor working conditions, unfair pay, and lack access to education.
- An Antidote
Though the feminist movement, like any other, can sometimes breed internal exclusion or smooth over gaps in our knowledge (or be under immense external pressure from political turmoil), it has, nevertheless, always held a vibrant thread of optimism.
At its core, feminism is not just about policy or protest; it’s about the celebration of women: “Laughter is rebellious, and celebration is a revolution.”, says Sandie Okoro, “And that is why WOW are still here, still growing, still loud, because we know joy is contagious.”
The ability to publicly express joy in being a woman, to celebrate one’s identity freely and unapologetically, is a revolutionary act in itself – a right that, if you have it, no one can truly take away from you. While in places like Afghanistan, women are silenced, unable to communicate freely or stand in their truth, we in the West have the privilege and responsibility to amplify our voices on their behalf.
The simple act of celebration, of gathering in solidarity, is powerful and perhaps the antidote to the dismaying and disheartening narratives that often dominate the politics surrounding women’s rights. If we exercise our right to express, which we sometimes forget isn’t innate or invincible, we can accelerate the return of the pendulum.
- The Joy Revolution
In light of this joy revolution, the evening featured many joyous triumphs.
To begin, Sandi Toksvig announced her work-in-progress ‘Mappa Mundi’, a Wikipedia-esque compendium that aims to “put women back into history”, void of the information by and about white men that dominates 85% of Wikipedia today.
Additionally, the solo performances from Anna Lapwood on the organ and Anoushka Shankar on the sitar, invited such emotion despite the varying textural and power outputs of their instruments. However, the choir piece managed to strike a balance between these qualities perfectly. The amalgamation of 100 untrained female voices ranging from 7 to 70 years old, underscored by the boom of the organ was truly moving in its performance of ‘REIGN’, a piece commissioned by Errollyn Wallen especially for the event.
All these combined truly embody the spirit of Annie Lennox’s “Sisters Are Doing It for Themselves” ft. Aretha Franklin – the song, that I made the title of this article. Because female empowerment, solidarity, and the strength of diverse voices coming together is exactly what International Women’s Day is all about.
I leave you with some of the resplendent lyrics from ‘REIGN’:
All around the world may our voices be heard…
From the East unto the West …
From the hills unto the mountains,
From the mountains to the sea,
From the earth beyond the sky…
Step into the light, we are golden in our wonder
Step into the light and our majesty
Step into the light we are golden in our splendour
Step into the light and our majesty
