International Women's Day

"One is not born a woman, one becomes one.”  -French existentialist philosopher Simone de Beauvoir

Each and every day, Ohio University recognizes the diversity of women’s experiences and their invaluable contributions to our community. This month, however, is extra special as we celebrate Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day, which was Sunday, March 8. 

International Women’s Day is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women and serves as a reminder to the world of the equality that women still fight for on a daily basis. We invite you to celebrate with us by learning more about five women from the OHIO community who inspires us: Alumna Leah Magyary; graduate student Peilian Wu; faculty member Dr. Victoria LaPoe; undergraduate student Sophia Boothby; and staff member Robin Oliver.

It’s important to note that these are snapshots of these women’s lives, and it does not necessarily reflect the experiences of others even with similar identities.

Leah Magyary, an OHIO alumna and Athens community member, is the new executive director of The Dairy Barn Arts Center. Magyary grew up in Athens with a family who believed it was important for her to have access to many different perspectives, opportunities and interests. She was encouraged to explore the world through different creative avenues, and access to the vibrant community of Athens was a major part of that experience.

“There is magic in a place that is based around cultivating creativity, and I am lucky enough to see that magic every day,” Magyary said. “I am proud of my ability to push the boundaries within my career, and to always work towards something that I believe is important. I am honored to lead The Dairy Barn Arts Center, and excited for the opportunity to grow an organization that I believe is a major staple within the Athens community.”

A stained-glass crafter outside of work, Magyary believes International Women’s Day (IWD) is a celebration of strength in unity, but also a recognition that each individual’s relationship with gender is unique.

“I am many things before I am a woman. I am a leader, a trailblazer, and a problem solver,” she explained. “My relationship with womanhood has been relatively simple, but that is not the case for many women. If we are going to celebrate IWD, it must be a celebration of diversity as well as unity. Each woman has a story to tell, and IWD is an opportunity for us to share and to listen."

Art bleeds in to almost every part of Peilian Wu’s life. Wu, a native of Shandong, China, is a third-year master of fine arts student in painting and drawing in the School of Art & Design.

Wu’s research focuses on the intimacy of nature, humans and natural space. She seeks to extend the possibilities of natural healing through her painting and painting installation. Wu also focuses on cultural exchange through teaching art classes at The Dairy Barn Arts Center, and she’s taught classes at the Wexner Center for the Arts in Columbus and at the Athens Public Library, among other places.

“My classes combine Chinese traditional ink painting skills, aesthetic view, and moral and healing principles to the local community,” she said. “I do classes, workshops, and outreach exhibitions to share different views of culture.”

Aside from her community outreach and work on her master’s program, Wu treasures time spent with family. Notably, relaxing and painting with her mother while she tends to her garden.

“I like to paint and write in my daily life and I love to travel and make sketches,” Wu said. “My mother inspired me to be confident, independent, strong and dedicative. International Women’s Day reminds me to work hard every day and be a valuable person in society.”

Dr. Victoria LaPoe wrote her Ph.D. dissertation with a newborn, a book contract and while on the job market. Both times she was in the hospital having her two sons, she was answering emails before and right after birth because it needed to be done.

“Our society doesn’t support some of us to stop or automatically have this or that person to lean on or fill in,” said Dr. LaPoe, professor in the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism. “So, I am most proud of ‘getting through.’ It is what made me who I am today. I also can’t help but think about the layers of work women do. In academia and in the workplace, some of us are moms, and/or some of us are expected to be moms or nurturing. I’d argue as a gender, we work a lot. Doing three or four jobs a day.”

Dr. LaPoe, former board member for the Native American Journalists Association, believes International Women’s Day is a day to think about those who have supported her, and those she tries to support today. She thinks about how she interacts with women throughout her many facets of life and evaluates the support she thinks she’s giving them.

“This day also means we rethink standards,” Dr. LaPoe explained. “Oftentimes in our society, standards have been set by groups that are not inclusive. If we are always measuring ourselves by standards that weren’t made to support people like me, we fail before we start. A woman should get a national award any day, not just because it is a ‘Woman’s Day.’”

Sophia Boothby grew up in many parts of North Carolina and Virginia with her father, a retired Marine who served in Desert Storm; her mother, a remediation elementary school teacher; and her older sister, a recent graduate of Ohio University. Boothby, a senior studying environmental biology and political science, spent most of her life in Spotsylvania, Virginia, where she enjoyed canoeing and fishing with her father on the Rappahannock River.

“My appreciation for nature and wildlife stems from my relationship with my dad. My sister and I grew up playing field hockey together and then being Bobcats together. She and my mother are my biggest fans and attend all the games they can," said Boothby, a member of OHIO's varsity field hockey team. "I also love to cook with my mother, she’s the smartest woman I know.”

International Women’s Day for her means celebrating the exceptional women leaders around her and ones she looks up to, such as her coaches and her personal hero, Wilma Mankiller — the first principal chief of the Cherokee Nation and an activist for the rights of Native peoples.

“As a native person myself, her leadership and accomplishments have always meant a lot to me,” Boothby explained. “It’s important to acknowledge the amazing women leaders who have created a better future for every kind of woman, but it should also serve as a day to empower women to keep reaching for bigger and better things.”

Whenever Robin Oliver thinks she’s busy, she remembers that she’s still not keeping up with her mother. Oliver looks back on her childhood and genuinely doesn’t know how her mother did it all.

Her mother was a teacher and breeds thoroughbreds. She was up by 6 a.m. to feed the horses, at school by 7:30 a.m., home again at 4 p.m. — then she had farm chores and always had a healthy dinner on the table every night by 6:30 p.m. when Oliver’s father got home. Plus, she took them to music lessons, riding lessons and practices for multiple sports. Oliver’s mother also played the piano for church and her only time to practice the hymns was Sunday morning right before they left for church. She also went back to school when Oliver was a teenager and got a doctorate.

“I think we continue to underestimate the incredible pressure women have on them to perform to an exceptional level and work and also to be present for her family,” Oliver said. “That is not to say that men don’t experience their own challenges, but they are simply different. For me, International Women’s Day is about recognizing and celebrating that difference and pausing to ask, have we leveled the playing field? And if not, how can we continue to move toward that?”

Oliver might not be keeping up with her mother, but she’s busier than most. Oliver is the vice president for University Communications and Marketing by day — and also by day: A wife to a part-time dad and part-time potter, mother to a 10-year-old son, and a woman of many hobbies.

“I have a problem with hobbies in that I have too many,” said Oliver. “The biggest one, though, is that I raise a rare breed of fiber goats called Pygora, and I sheer them, spin yarn, and knit. I have been into fiber art as long as I can remember and picked up knitting in my 20s. My mom breeds horses, so I grew up on a farm and I always wanted to get back to that in some small way.”