International Women's Day is just around the corner and what better way to celebrate than with your best friends?
Celebrated annually on March 8, this global holiday stands up for women from all walks of life and, more specifically, the women's rights movement that continues to fight for the freedoms that many women enjoy today. From gender equality to reproductive rights, this holiday celebrates how far women have come and must go.
There are many ways to celebrate womanhood with your friends, including taking time to honor the pioneers who broke the glass ceiling, as well as breaking free and enjoying the sisterhood you've created with your girls.
You and your team can paint the city red and go bar-hopping to all the places offering cheap drinks in honor of the holiday, or hit the dance floor at your favorite club and dance the night away. If you like to sing your heart out, whether you're good at it or not, another great way to bond with your girlfriends is to go to a karaoke bar and rent a room to sing some songs. Bonus points if you and your team pay homage to pop powerhouses like Taylor Swift and Beyoncé, celebrating some of the smartest female artists of our era.
You can also get your girls together to make some art at your local wine bar with a night of painting and sipping; There is nothing better than letting your creativity fly on a canvas while enjoying a glass of wine or two. There are also often regular, sober painting nights, as well as opportunities to explore different artistic mediums, such as taking pottery or sculpture classes together. The best thing about making art with friends (with or without substances) is that you are in a fun and supportive environment, which is one of the best parts of sisterhood.
If you want to keep things light with a cozy night in, try having a movie night that highlights the works of female filmmakers, who are disproportionately underrepresented in cinema, but who have slowly been closing the gender gap.
If you and your friends are trying to catch up on this year's Oscar-nominated films, Celine Song's bittersweet romance Past Lives and Justine Triet's Alpine courtroom drama Anatomy of the fall They are definitely essential. You'll also be able to have a double feature with popular 2023 movies like the Greta Gerwig blockbuster. Barbie or the moving biographical film of Sofia Coppola Priscilla, Both examine childhood and what it means to be a woman in different ways.
You can also mix things up by not making female filmmakers the theme of movie night and instead focusing on female-centered narratives. Doing this opens up films like Yorgos Lanthimos's. poor things – also Oscar-nominated but directed by a man – which follows the coming-of-age story of Emma Stone's Frankenstein-eque character, Bella Baxter. poor things would be another film that would be perfect for a double feature with Barbie due to their similar themes of female autonomy and awakening.
There's also the added idea of having a more traditional chick flick night that includes rom-com classics like Clueless and The diaryof Bridget Jones as well as female comedies such as Legally Blonde and Bad Girls. These movies are almost always crowd-pleasers and perfect for a girls' night out.
If you can't go out with your friends on International Women's Day, don't worry, as March is also recognized as Women's History Month, so you have a whole month to celebrate.
