FEATURE : Celebrating Our Female Workforce Who Help Propel EssentiallySports to New Heights

It has been a long journey for women across the globe to find equal opportunities and recognition, more so in the sports world. The gradual shift in women’s role and contribution became more visible forty-seven years ago when the United Nations first advocated for Women’s Day in 1977. Not only do women representatives stand at the podiums of leading positions — like Sima Sami Bahous (Executive director of UN Women), Michelle Bachelet (first female President of Chile, and the first Executive Director of UN Women), and many more - but today they also take on more physically demanding roles too, like in sports and the army.

This change was starkly visible in this year’s Indian Republic Day parade, which witnessed, for the first time, a spirited demonstration by female personnel who performed audacious motorcycle stunts. This change is also quite visible in the sports world, where one can now see more women stepping out of the role of cheerleaders and actively stepping into the role of athletes, participating in various sporting categories previously limited to men.

These earlier held radical views today not only extend to one’s day-to-day social life, but are also seamlessly braided into working life here at EssentiallySports (ES). Being one of the leading media houses catering to the American audience that deal with a subject such as sports — which has for the longest time remained male-dominated — ES prides itself on having women stepping forward and taking up various roles within the company.

The realized ideal of no polarity at EssentiallySports

Smeared with polarity on the surface, ‘Women’s Day’ tugs one to think, ‘do women become more special on this day of the year than men?’ But women at ES, though, seem to think differently.

“I have been working at ES for three years. Honestly, there have been so many times when I have been the only woman in the room, but I have never felt like, you know, different, or there is somebody sitting. They just leave me be. Usually, people try to give women different treatment, but it’s never like that….” said Shreya Verma, former US Sports strategist and current content strategy team executive.

Manika Khanna, the only woman member of the Creatives team, echoed a similar story. “Well, my team consists of all male colleagues only. But when I joined, I never felt that they treated me like, ‘Oh, you are a newcomer, you can’t do this’…I don’t think there is anything like women and men, I’ve never felt that…all of them are the same!”

These casually uttered statements in a small corner of this world, are nothing more than a realized ideal for which women have fought for centuries worldwide. And most definitively, it’s nothing less than an achievement for ES — where talent, knack, and skills precede gender binaries.

Women athletes that inspire ES Women

The question then becomes, if there are no differences, then why dedicate a day to it? The answer to this question flowed through the thoughts of Tanushree Bhowmick, a Bodybuilding Content Writer at EssentiallySports.

“If I talk about Serena Williams and even Simone Biles — they also prove the fact that just because a woman is an athlete, it’s like a woman does not need to choose between her career and her life and the things that she loves. Like if her passion is tennis or her passion is gymnastics, she can still continue doing that…even after having a family, even after getting married.”

“So, she can balance life like that. And I think we are also proving that fact that just because women are ambitious, it does not mean that they forget how to be sensitive or forget how to be in tune with their feminine energy…” Ms. Bhowmick concluded enthusiastically.

When all is said and done, how can one go on to celebrate Women’s Day without mentioning Mary Wollstonecraft, widely regarded as the mother of feminist theory? In her influential piece, ‘A Vindication of the Rights of Woman,’ she once conveyed a similar sentiment. “It is far better to be often deceived than never to trust; to be disappointed in love, than never to love.”

To think that Women’s Day is only to celebrate one of the genders would be limiting. Embracing vulnerabilities and sensitivities are ordeals that nobody is exempted from. However, owning vulnerabilities fearlessly and standing up bravely to face them is what the day encourages us to celebrate.

And this is what Vaishnavi Gupta, who has been an HR and Operations professional at ES for almost 2+ years now, does when faced with challenges in life. When asked about her sporting inspiration, she said, “It’s P. V. Sindhu. Like, when we talk about general outlook, yeah, I do follow her….So the thing is like, you know, I have seen her since my childhood, from the background that she comes. She even had to go against her parents initially.”

“You know, she really had to fight for herself. Maybe what something that excites me about a person - taking a stand for yourself over there. Other than that, her journey has been very motivating for me personally. That is why I relate to her.”

Honoring Women Each Day

On this day, it is important to commemorate all the women in history who risked their lives by vocalizing their need for equal representation and recognition of their individualized place in society. With that said, it is equally essential to incorporate what women symbolically embody.

Jahanabi, who is currently leading the Editorial Newsroom team at ES, described the essence when she expressed, “I think even if this conversation wouldn’t have been happening, I would have felt as valued as any other day at ES, to be honest. I’m glad this happened, but again even if…” She continued after a thoughtful pause.”See, the thing is that women is a habit, right? It happens every day, every moment of your life, so for me, that matters the most… it’s personal for everyone!”

It was in 1929 that Virginia Woolf, one of the prominent writers of the women’s rights movement, published an essay named ‘A Room of One’s Own’, discussing the limited scope of women writers in society at that time. So personally for me, Deepika, who has worked with EssentiallySports for more than two years across various roles, feels overwhelmed yet hugely privileged to have gotten a ‘room of my own’ to write this blog…

On that very note, here’s wishing everyone a very Happy Women’s Day!