International Women’s Month, this year, arrives against the backdrop of truly unprecedented times. Across the world, the winds of change are gusting with startling intensity. And as often is in history, women have been left to bear the brunt of this cascading series of disruptions. In the past few months, hordes of unscrupulous men have deployed  AI tools, most prominently Grok, to either strip women down to their underwear or otherwise doctor these images to suit their whims. Meanwhile, the tranche of Epstein files released in the past months have reminded us of the level of depravity powerful men often visit on women. As wars and conflicts erupt across the globe, women in these regions have seen a shrinking of their rights and freedoms, in the cases where they’ve not been completely eroded. Even in so-called democratic societies, far-right conservatives continue their misplaced efforts to roll back women’s reproductive rights. 

But even as all of this unfolds, so much gives us hope for the future. At the recently-concluded Olympics, women have dominated the headlines, inspiring hope and warmth in our hearts. U.S Olympics figure skater Alysia Liu took us on an exciting journey, culminating in her gold medal win, a first for the U.S in 24 years. Many more women continue to make waves in fields ranging from music, science, the arts, to business. 

To mark International Women’s Month, the women of Deeds Magazine gathered for a round-table discussion spanning topics such as the ways in which their experiences as during adolescence shaped their views of womanhood, the reasons they’re hopeful for the future of women, the joys of womanhood, and, not least, what it feels like to be a woman living through this period in history. 

As an adolescent, freshly coming of age, what city(ies) did you live in and how did your experiences there inform your views on womanhood?

Kafilat: I spent most of my early years in Lagos and Abeokuta. Looking back, one of the biggest lessons that experience gave me was the importance of community. I grew up watching the love and support between my mum and her sisters, the way they showed up for one another and carried each other through different seasons of life.
As the only girl, it’s taught me that womanhood is not something experienced in isolation, but something strengthened through solidarity, care, and shared wisdom. Seeing the way the women in my family supported one another showed me the power of women standing together, and it continues to influence how I approach other women and my friend groups.
Elah: I spent most of my childhood in Abuja. Growing up there shaped my earliest understanding of womanhood in visceral ways. I’ve always been surrounded by women who are industrious, expressive, grounded and endlessly resourceful. It’s made me understand womanhood as expansive, even when society tries to compress it. That foundation has naturally evolved into my belief in self-determination. Watching women constantly negotiate expectations taught me that identity is not something handed to you fully formed, it is something you claim. My view of womanhood resists binaries. It is not soft or strong or traditional or radical or visible alone. It is layered. It allows contradiction, and it makes room for many ways of being.

What would you say are, for you, the greatest joys of womanhood?

Laurene: The greatest joy of womanhood is the ability to bring life to the world. We are the gatekeepers of life. Depending on what culture you come from, women are also the ones to preserve and install culture down to the next generation. That is why in many religious groups, clans or tribes, the child inherits the culture of the mother.
Ruqayyah:  The greatest joy of womanhood, for me, is sisterhood. Women are incredible teachers and nurturers. Learning from their experiences, wisdom, resilience, and stories and growing from them has always been deeply empowering to me. There is something powerful about shared understanding and collective growth among women.
Diane: I would say the greatest joy of womanhood is my existence. The ability to simply exist as a woman amongst other women. I am a constant testament to the beauty that is womanhood and being able to experience that with other women is beautiful. 

This is a bit of a nuanced question but every generation of women has aspired towards solving several big issues facing women. In the mid 20th century, it was workplace access. Not much earlier, the struggle had been women’s suffrage. In the late 2010s, the #meToo movement fanned across the world with bracing urgency. What would you say are the big challenges women of this generation are faced with? 

Kafilat: For me it will be equality and I often think about it through a simple lens: equality isn’t about women being the same as men, it’s about having the same rights, opportunities, and respect. Many of the earlier movements for women focused on access, the right to vote, the right to work, the right to be present in spaces that excluded women. Those battles were about opening doors.
For this generation, the challenge is slightly different. The doors may be open, but true equity within those spaces still isn’t guaranteed. Women today are navigating issues like unequal representation in leadership, safety both online and offline, and the constant negotiation between visibility and respect.
In creative industries, women are present and producing incredible work, but the question now is who gets the resources, the platforms, and the authority to shape narratives? So the challenge for this generation is not just participation,  it’s power, recognition, and structural fairness. It’s about moving from simply being included to being fully valued and able to shape the systems we operate within.
Gloria:  While the high-profile legal battles (like reproductive rights) are well-known, much of what you're feeling comes from the administrative dismantling of protections.
•⁠  ⁠Regulatory Shift: Many rights are not being "voted away" but are instead being neutralized through the rescinding of executive orders and the defunding of enforcement agencies (like the EEOC or the Gender Policy Council).
•⁠  ⁠The "Secretive" Element: For a woman of color, this often manifests as the removal of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) frameworks in federal and private sectors. When these "guardrails" disappear, discrimination doesn't always look like a "No Trespassing" sign; it looks like being overlooked for a promotion or losing access to a healthcare subsidy without a clear explanation

So much can be said about the perils women today are faced with—from Trump and countless other hard-line politicians rolling back abortion rights, to the rise of incel culture. Nonetheless, are there any things that make you optimistic about the future as a woman?

Whitney: Honestly, what makes me optimistic is watching women stop shrinking, the future feels hopeful because women are getting louder, bolder, and less interested in being likeable — and as we all know history usually changes when that happens!!
Emem: I feel like the power of womanhood lies in our collective commitment to full self realization. What I mean by that is — as women, we spend a lot of time putting out fires, helping others build their dreams, trying to fix, fix, fix. I think the power is realizing that while we try to save others the most important thing we can save is truly ourselves. Not just professionally, but creatively, socially, intellectually…. All the things. There’s so much in this life that women can do, and I think immense power lies in running full speed ahead toward all the things we have been told we’re not good enough, or capable enough, to do. We’re limitless. Timeless. I find great joy in that. 

Who are some of the women—across all walks of life—who inspire you? 

Laurene: primarily, it has always been the women in my family. Those are the women I ever compared myself to, looked up to and aspired to be. Since I come from a large family, I really got to see the different personalities and agents we often glorify, restrict, neglect when we speak of black women and how they are portrayed in society. I wouldn’t necessarily say I was inspired but it equipped and informed me just enough to navigate the world.
Adun: I would say my Mom, most of who I am is because of who she was and the way she carried herself through life. I don’t particularly make it a habit to look up to people because we as humans are flawed one way or the other, however I would say the women in my life , my friends, the ones very close to me, I learn from them everyday.
‍Diane: I would say my partner. She has constantly taught me the importance of embracing who you are. The importance of existence being just enough. 

‍In one sentence, what does it feel like to be a woman living in these unprecedented times?
‍‍Laurene: To be a woman in these unprecedented times feels like the greatest responsibility and power over generations to come. If every woman in the world were to refuse to birth another child, then humanity would go extinct. Now more than ever, it is important for women to recognize how much they can prevent and ultimately control the world narrative. What do we want the world to look like in the next 100 years? What kind of people do we need to raise in favour of what I believe is goodness and unity.
Whitney: It feels like standing in the middle of history while quietly deciding we’re no longer asking for space — we’re strutting in our heels and designing 
Emem: It feels overwhelming. But also vast—vast in terms of the opportunity to find and re-find yourself, over and over again.
Ruqayyah: As a woman in her early twenties, living in these unprecedented times feels like constantly learning, unlearning, and relearning myself every day.
Kafilat: Being a woman in these times feels like living on both sides of a coin, having the power to choose your path, while knowing society is still learning how to be kind to the women who do.
Gloria: Living in these unprecedented times feels like a familiar exercise in constant pivoting, where I navigate a world that doesn't always feel safe by anchoring myself in my faith, utilizing therapy as a vital outlet for processing, and intentionally seeking out safe communities where I can be my complete self while focusing on the internal changes I can actually control.
Adun: To be a woman in these unprecedented times is an ever present challenge, but a welcome challenge all the same.
‍Diane: It feels like constantly and navigating  and having to deal with the challenges of being a woman while  understanding that my life matters just as much as anyone else’s

If you can send a few words of encouragement to every woman reading this, what would they be?
Adun: I feel ill equipped to give words of wisdom but I would say, make choice everyday to love the person that you are and be kind lol (honestly the world is already such a crazy place it hurts absolutely no one to show  kindness)
Diane: You are deserving of the space you occupy in the world. Exist, take up space, do the things you think about everyday, have fun.
Emem: Don’t be afraid of falling or failing. Fail fast. There’s a lot on the other side of trying in a world that would rather have us be stagnant.