International Women's Day, observed annually on March 8, is a global commemorative event celebrating the movement for women's rights, and aims to support the social, economic, cultural, and political gains women have made while noting how much farther women have to go. There are a number of ways to observe the event this year, and one very small, but still somewhat meaningful, way is to add a temporary International Women's Day profile pic on Facebook.
Changing a Facebook profile picture isn't exactly a substitute for more active action, like attending a rally, or contacting elected officials, or, most importantly, voting in local elections as well as national ones. And with the Trump Administration and the GOP in charge, active political action is essential when it comes to trying to protect women's rights, which include pay parity and other issues, but is particularly felt when it comes to women's reproductive rights. Just last week, Vice President Mike Pence declared that he believes abortion will end "in our time," and states like Mississippi are already attempting to ban abortion at as few as 15 weeks. Some ways to protect women's reproductive rights is to donate to organizations like Planned Parenthood and the ACLU, as well as directly to local abortion clinics and healthcare facilities; you can also contact your local Congressional representative or Senator (repeatedly!) to protest any proposed bills that would impede women's rights.
Still, changing your Facebook profile photo is a good way to remind others to take action, and since it's not a particularly time-consuming activity, it's worthwhile in tandem with more aggressive tactics. Here's how to change your Facebook profile pic for International Women’s Day 2018.
Head To Twibbon And Search For "International Women's Day"
Twibbon is a great site if you want to start your own brand campaign, or call awareness to an organization or particular cause. Facebook doesn't have a special profile for International Women's Day this year, but Twibbon has a whole bunch of options, and you're free to pick your favorite.
Choose Your Preferred Frame
I find that hashtags are a good way to show collective support, since they make it easy to find other people involved in the cause, and also help provide the language necessary to describe a certain collective movement (think #MeToo, or #BlackLivesMatter). I went with #MakeItHappen, which was also the most supported of the frames, but you can choose ones with purple ribbons or other emblems.
Log In
This should be fairly self-explanatory. You can log in via your Facebook profile or your Twitter account.
Pick A Social Media Profile To Change
Once you've logged in, you can choose whether you want to change your Twitter photo or your Facebook photo. I'm going with Facebook, specifically to irk my Trump-supporting family members I am "friends" with. Note that you can also change both, if you'd like.
Position And Resize The Frame
Here is a preview of me, supporting International Women's Day as well as the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios, and butterbeer. You can resize the frame as you wish, then add the Twibbon to Facebook, along with an optional message of support.
Add Your Twibbon To Facebook
Photo achieved! Now, if you want to officially make it your Facebook profile photo, you have to go to the site directly and choose to make it your profile photo.
Et voila!
Twibbon should have added the photo to your Facebook page for you. Click on the photo, click the options tab at the bottom right, and choose "Make Profile Picture." And that's it!
Again, an illustrative profile photo on social media isn't the end all, be all of activism, but it does call attention to an important cause. I didn't even know International Women's Day existed until activist groups organized a Women's Strike last year, and I probably would have forgotten it was coming up had I not been assigned to write this article. Every little bit of work counts in the resistance.
