Megan comes from family of feminists

Megan McIlwaine, a 17-year-old BTEC student in Creative Digital Media at Belfast Metropolitan College, grew up in a family where fighting for equality for all women was the norm.

“Feminism was ingrained in me and it was just when I started socialising with people my own age that I realised that not everyone thought the same as me. My Nanny went to all the feminist rallies and lectures, while my Mum is all about fighting for everyone in her space. Mum was a single parent and as a young mother she was a huge inspiration to me growing up. She pushes me in every way she can,” she said.

The theme of this year’s International Women’s Day in Northern Ireland is ‘Rights in Sight’ and Megan believes it is vital that all women enjoy the same right to equality and respect.

“My poster has a lot of different women in it. I feel it is easy for certain types of women to be excluded or left behind so it was important that I try to show that we are trying to fight for everyone’s rights. I think diversity is very important in feminism, even if you weren’t born a woman, if you are a trans woman you are just as valid as the rest of us,” she said.

Megan’s artwork will be reproduced as large posters for the annual parade and will also be the cover for the IWD programme, while smaller posters will be displayed in venues across Northern Ireland.

This year’s International Women’s Day Rally on March 7 will see thousands of people gathering to celebrate women’s achievements and to demand updated equality legislation.

The rally will have its usual family-friendly, carnival atmosphere, with samba drummers, ukulele players, circus performers and participants in period Suffragette costumes as they march from Writer’s Square to Belfast City Hall to hear speeches from leading members of the women’s movement.

For more information about this year’s International Women’s Day, go to the International Women’s Day Northern Ireland Facebook page.