Before you come for me—hear me out.
Every year my feed fills with pink graphics, “empowered women empower women” quotes, and companies proudly celebrating the amazing women on their teams.
And then tomorrow?
Everything goes back to normal.
The same leadership gaps.
The same funding disparities.
The same workplaces designed around historically male definitions of power and success.
One day of celebration doesn’t undo systems that took centuries to build.
And yet, we treat the day like progress itself.
But recognition isn’t progress.
Flowers aren’t equity.
Panels aren’t policy.
And hashtags aren’t structural change.
If we actually want to support women, we need to talk about the testosterone-shaped elephant in the room:
Modern business culture was largely built around traits historically rewarded in men — competition, dominance, hierarchy, and individual power.
Meanwhile qualities like collaboration, empathy, emotional intelligence, and community-building (often associated with women) were dismissed as “soft.”
Ironically… those are the exact traits modern organizations now say they need most.
So yes, celebrate women today.
But tomorrow, ask a harder question:
What are we actually changing?
Because women don’t need one day of appreciation.
We need systems designed with us in mind.
If your support for women expires at midnight on March 8… it was never support. It was marketing