#OwnIt: Celebrating greatness this International Women’s Day

International Women’s Day is commemorated on March 8 globally to celebrate the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. As we celebrate, we also call for women’s equality to be accelerated.

This year’s theme is #BreakTheBias. Across many aspects of life, both professional and personal, women have faced bias, stereotypes, and discrimination. We have come a long way in forging a seat at the table, but there’s more to do before it’s a gender equal world.

As we think about breaking stereotypes, let’s take this opportunity to applaud women empowerment. Behind every bias is a woman who stood up to prove her greatness. At Twitter, we’re fostering gender equity and the advancement of women with a new campaign, #OwnIt. 

What’s #OwnIt? Simply put, we want women to be proud of who they are and what they’ve achieved. We want women to embrace their differences, uplift each other, and own their greatness.

In honour of International Women’s Day, a special emoji will appear when people Tweet with the following hashtags: #OwnIt, #InternationalWomensDay, #IWD, #IWD2022, #WomensHistoryMonth, #WHM.

The emoji is an interwoven form that represents intersectionality. The spark spirals outward from the centre, alluding and encouraging both individual and collective action for women, while the layered shapes convey a sense of diversity and unity.

The emoji will also appear with hashtags in nine Asian languages:

1. Japanese: #私らしく
2. Hindi: #खुदपरगर्वकरें
3. Korean: #가져봐
4. Bahasa Indonesia: #PerempuanMasaKini
   
5. Bahasa Malaysia: #KuasaWanita
6. Filipino: #AngkininMo
7. Thai: #จงภูมิใจ
8. Simplified Chinese: #她力量
9. Traditional Chinese: #妳值得驕傲

#OwnIt on Twitter

Women from different communities have turned to Twitter to stay connected on their interests, whether it’s sports, finance, or artificial intelligence. Here’s our sample list of women to follow across various countries and communities in the Asia Pacific region. Join Twitter to see and support so many more women’s voices on our platform on International Women’s Day and every day:

India

• Jemimah Rodrigues (@JemiRodrigues): Indian cricketer Jemimah Rodrigues is a team and Twitter favourite. She keeps her followers and young aspirants inspired with her practice videos, and sometimes even gives them a glimpse of her artistic side.
• Bhavina Patel (@BhavinaOfficial): Bhavina Hasmukhbhai Patel is an Indian parathlete and table tennis player from Mehsana, Gujarat. She inspired millions when she won a silver medal in Class 4 Table tennis at the 2020 Summer Paralympics in Tokyo. Her Twitter account captures her daily life with inspirational quotes, practice sessions, physio, and training videos.
• C. A. Bhavani Devi (@IamBhavaniDevi): Chadalavada Anandha Sundhararaman Bhavani Devi is an Indian sabre fencer, an Arjuna awardee, and the first Indian fencer ever to qualify for the Olympics. Bhavani’s Twitter account gives her fans a peek into her travel expeditions, training sessions, and beautiful self-portraits.
• Savita Punia (@savitahockey): Savita Punia is the renowned goalkeeper of the Indian national field hockey team. Savita Punia is also known as "Great Wall of India" because of her phenomenal and outstanding performance in the 2020 Summer Olympics. Savita loves to spend quality time with family when she is not training or working out.
• Manu Bhaker (@realmanubhaker): Manu Bhaker is an Indian airgun shooter and Olympian. She represented India at the 2018 ISSF World Cup and won two gold medals – becoming the youngest Indian to achieve the feat. When the star athlete is not training, she loves to support small local businesses/vendors or share positive quotes on life.

Indonesia

• Dita Wistarini Yolashasanti (@ditut): A digital content creator with a wide range of interest in the artistic world, from food photography, cake decorating, creating clothes with the concept of sustainable fashion, as well as digital fashion, Dita has been actively creating her own community since the early days of social media in 2007 and has been widely known among arts communities on Twitter.
• Disya Arinda (@disyarinda): As a clinical psychologist, Disya has dedicated her life to helping people who are in need to face their life challenges. She dedicated her time in spreading awareness about mental health issues and informing them toward the right help. Disya routinely uses Twitter to share knowledge about mental health.
• Evi Mariani Sofian (@evimsofian): Evi Mariani Sofian is a senior journalist in Indonesia with concentrations in shining spotlights and providing voices to the marginalised communities in the country. A Hubert Humphrey Fellowship recipient in 2011, Evi Mariani co-founded Project Multatuli (@Projectm_org), a journalism initiative to provide support for the marginalised communities in Indonesia. 
• Kalis Mardiasih (@mardiasih): Kalis Mardiasih is a writer and editor who has published three books about women from a religious point of view. She uses Twitter to continue sharing her views on various social issues faced by women.
• Sheherazade (@SheraGoesBoing): Sheherazade or Shera is passionate about wildlife conservation and has been actively involved in Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) in Indonesia. In 2019, Shera became the president of “Tambora Muda”, a national advocacy to empower and increase young conservationists capacities as well as abilities. She also co-founded the PROGRES program, a non-profit program based in Central Sulawesi to promote endangered local species, such as bats, cuscuses, and forsten turtles. 

Join the Twitter Spaces session on 17 March at 3pm-4:30pm (Jakarta Time) with LBH APIK Jakarta (@LBHAPIK), Jakarta Feminist (@JakartaFeminist), awaskbgo (@awaskbgo), and special guests to talk about breaking the bias. 

Malaysia

• Alina Amir (@alinaamir): Alina is a co-founder of Arus Academy, a social enterprise that educates underprivileged students. Through Arus Academy, students are introduced to coding, programming, and building physical solutions to everyday real world issues.
• Amalina Che Bakri (@dramalinabakri): Malaysians are no strangers to Dr. Amalina, when in 2004 she broke the record for number of A1s achieved by a student in the history of Malaysian education. Now a Clinical Research Fellow at Imperial College London, Dr. Amalina is known for her passion in advocating for women’s rights. Using Twitter as her medium, she creates content to empower women to follow their dreams and break the bias as well as sharing health and medical tips.
• Boo Su Lyn (@boosulyn): Su Lyn is the editor-in-chief of news site CodeBlue, which communicates complex news in an understandable way to all Malaysians. She has been vocal about addressing sexual assaults, ethical misconducts, and health care issues.
• Ivy Josiah (@ivyjosiah): Ivy is an activist who is vital in the formation of Women’s Aid Organisation, a Malaysian NGO that provides help to women who are escaping from domestic violence.
• Suraya Zainudin (@surayaror): A writer, a speaker, and a digital marketer, Suraya is the founder of popular personal finance website, RinggitOhRinggit.com. She is also the curator of a book series, Money Stories from Malaysians. 

Join the Spaces session on 10 March at 8pm-9pm  (Kuala Lumpur time), hosted bySuraya Zainudin (@surayaror), featuring Alina Amir (@alinaamir) and Munirah Hamzah (@mumu_thestan).

Philippines

• Alexa Asahina (@alexaasahina): Alexa is a video game streamer who was dubbed the Queen of Tekken Philippines when she won the game’s 2020 tournament. She uses Twitter to empower women in the gaming field, an area where she has experienced a lot of discrimination as a streamer.
• Carla Lizardo (@carlalizardo_): Carla is a former beauty queen, gamer, and now part of the trio “Between Us Queens” – one of the first-ever Filipino Spotify original podcasts from Spotify Studios. She started becoming active in the NFT space, where she supports women-led projects and artists.
• Mela Habijan (@missmelahabijan): Mela Habijan is the first-ever Miss Trans Global, winning the crown in 2020. She started as a writer for TV shows, ventured into acting, and wrote for several news outlets. On Twitter, she educates Filipinos about LGBTQIA+ identity.
• Mina Esguerra (@minavesguerra): Mina is a romance author who spearheaded the hashtag #RomanceClass that has been used amongst the romance writers community since 2013. When she realised that romance writers, who are mostly women, are not welcomed in literary spaces, she founded her own community that encourages women to write and help each other grow.
• Saab Magalona (@saabmagalona): Saab is a musician, podcaster, and content creator. Together with her husband Jim Bacarro, their podcast “Wake Up with Jim & Saab” discusses a series of topics from reality TV shows to the importance of voter registration, and in 2020, became one of only nine podcasts in the Philippines to become Spotify Exclusive.

Hear from these inspiring women and other speakers on Twitter Spaces on 8 March, 4pm-5pm and 10 March, 8pm-9pm (Manila time).

Singapore

• Eunice Olsen (@euniceolsen): Eunice is the founder of Eunice Olsen Media, providing communications training. She was the winner of Miss Universe Singapore 2000, and a former Nominated Member of Parliament. A strong advocate for women’s empowerment and gender equality, Eunice believes that the media plays a key role in shaping how young women perceive themselves and their role in society.
• Jemimah Wei (@JemmaWei): Jemimah is a writer and host, who is currently finishing her novel. She found her community of writers on Twitter, and respects how the community supports and uplifts other Asian writers online.
• Nazhath Faheema (@nazhath_faheema): Nazhath is the founder and president of hash.peace, a youth-led social harmony advocacy group. They are dedicated to inter-ethnic and inter-belief engagements that help to combat racial and religious prejudice and discrimination.
• Neo Mei Lin (@MeilinNeo): Mei Lin is a senior research fellow at the National University of Singapore’s Tropical Marine Science Institute. Having experienced discrimination as a young Asian woman scientist, she hopes to motivate the next generation of women in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) to be confident about their journeys.
• Tammy Tang (@furrryfish): Tammy is an avid gamer and the founder of Female eSports League (FSL). She started as a hobbyist and later broke into the upper echelons of the esports industry.

South Korea

• Ashley Kang (@AshleyKang): Ashley is the co-founder of KORIZON Esports, a content channel which interviews Korean esports players. Before venturing into content creation and journalism, Ashley was a software developer.
• Mikkang (@sooldogirl): Mikkang is a cartoonist and author. She created two webtoon (digital comics) series, of which “Drunk City Women” was produced as a TV programme.
• Soryeong Park (@January19_): Soryeong is the founder and chief executive officer of PUBLY, a subscription-based online service that provides members with articles on esoteric subjects ranging from technology to business management and tourism.
• Sumi Jo (@sumijo2011): Sumi is a lyric coloratura soprano known for her Grammy award-winning interpretations of the bel canto repertoire.
• Yan Kim (@babamba2020): Yan Kim is a writer who regularly Tweets a summary of economic news in the mornings, and publishes a monthly poem as an NFT.

Thailand

• Anchilee Scott-Kemmis (@ann_scottkemmis): A Thai-Australian model, Anchilee shot to fame when she was crowned Miss Universe Thailand 2021. Challenging Thai beauty standards through her online social movement #RealSizeBeauty, Anchilee is a change-maker, inspiring and empowering women to be proud of themselves and embrace their real bodies.
• Chatpawee Trichachawanwong (@ceemeagain): A leader in the tech space, Chatpawee is one of the first female tech experts on TV, and today CEO of Social Lab. She hopes to create change in society by introducing technologies that are made by Thais.
• Sasi Yaisawang (@DrSasiYaisawang): Dr Sasi is an ophthalmologist dedicated to helping and educating people about eye health. She shares medical knowledge and information regarding ophthalmology on Twitter.
• Sutita “Nina” Panyayong (@ninanaka): Nina is a former Thai actress, singer, host, and now a news anchor for Sports Corner on PPTV. She is a supporter of Liverpool FC and regularly Tweets about the club.
• Wirawan Mosby (@BoomMosby): Wirawan is part of The Hug Project in Thailand, where she helps sexually abused children through rehabilitation.

Join @TwitterThailand’s Spaces session on 10 March at 7pm-8pm (Bangkok time), hosted by journalist Thitapa Siripipat (@Pink_Siripipat), to hear from some of these women.

Spotlight: first ever female-led non-fungible token community

The NFT conversation on Twitter continues to thrive with over 375 million Tweets since January 2021, however women make up only 32% of it despite contributing significantly to the NFT industry through investments, NFT education and more. 

Here are several emerging NFT artists across the Asia Pacific region that you should follow that are using their platform to encourage female representation in the space. We’re also excited to share that these artists will be helping launch Twitter’s first ever female-led NFT Community – Women in NFTs. The goal of the Community will be to create a safe space for women to share and get information, create connections and support each other.

• Akanksha Badaya (@art_lover_09) is a certified graphic designer from Jaipur, who has been working on a  mix of digital and traditional art. She says, “My NFT journey started when I came across people sharing their NFTs on Twitter. That got me intrigued to know more about the space and research about it. I attended a few Twitter Spaces that helped me gain knowledge about the background of NFTs.”
• Amity_sensei (@amity_sensei) is a Japanese artist who specialises in watercolours on iPad, and she opened a creative school for elementary school students with her art. By using the profits from NFT to expand the business, she wants to nurture the sensibilities of children to be more creative, and increase the number of future creators. In the future, she would hope to get more fans through Twitter so that we can return the profits to future artists.
• Chanel Lee (@chanelcoco), a Singaporean, is the founder of NFT project Tasty Toastys. She quit her corporate job in the middle of the pandemic to launch her first collection of 7,600 randomly generated NFTs. “The reception has been great on Twitter so far as people from all over the world can discover us on various Twitter Spaces! Advice for other women: don't be afraid to jump into Twitter Spaces and meet new people via Twitter - NFT communities are very welcoming and open, and there are plenty of safe spaces that are incubating diversity.”
• Chanida Tantiyapitak (@Sibbil_) is a Thai artist and illustrator. Using Twitter to converse with the communities important to her, Chanida shares, “Twitter is a huge platform that reaches out to a large public. I mainly use it to update about my work, promote new products, as well as share ideas, opinions and information.”
• Chezka Gonzales (@pilotchezka_NFT)  is a Filipina pilot, reservist, and registered nurse. She started her own NFT community, Women Of Substance NFT, where they champion charities, scholarships, and empowerment not just in the Philippines, but also for women around the globe. She shared that she started her NFT journey on Twitter, and met other enthusiasts who inspire her and allow her community to grow.
• Cora Bai (@NudeyNFT) is a Taiwanese illustrator who started Nudey, a collection of hand-drawn NFTs. “My NFT journey started at Twitter. I have been joining Twitter Spaces to connect with other women NFT artists around the world such as Canada, the US, and Sweden.” From Cora’s perspective, the community on Twitter allows her to explore a wider and more diversified NFT ecosystem, where she can always get inspiration from. 
• Jang Koal (@jangkoal) is a Korean pop-surrealist artist, producing enticing narratives populated by a host of daring female characters. Her art, “Mirage Cat 3”, was sold for about USD173,000 worth of bitcoin.
• Munira “Moon” Hamzah (@mumu_thestan) is a visual artist and poet from Malaysia who started creating NFTs as a full-time job. Linkin Park’s Mike Shinoda (@mikeshinoda) noticed her artwork and even bought her first NFT who then encouraged her to pursue creating NFTs for a living. Moon’s artworks have been part of an exhibition at Art Basel, Miami in 2021.
• Serwah Attafuah (@serwah_attafuah) is an NFT artist from Western Sydney who had art commissioned by Paris Hilton. Attafuah’s original work was auctioned off by Hilton for a cool USD20,160. Twitter is her go-to social media app for NFT because it's the best place to connect with artists, collectors and the community as a whole. She constantly finds art projects on Twitter that inspires her.
• Shavonne Wong (@shavonnewong_) is an award winning fashion photographer from Singapore who has pivoted to become a 3D virtual model creator. In addition to creating Vogue Singapore’s first ever NFT cover, Shavonne’s creation made waves when Hollywood actor Idris Elba bought his first NFT from her Love is Love NFT collection.  

Twitter is the undisputed home for public conversations – it’s where women share personal stories about their experiences, advocate for and support other women, and elevate the voices of women in their communities. Be a part of the conversation today.