The Female Quotient

It’s hard to believe that certain sports barred women from competing in the Olympics until pretty recently 🤯 The 2024 Olympics in Paris is special for a few reasons. It was in the city of light that women first competed in the #Olympics in 1900. And it’s in the French capital this summer where women and men athletes will be represented in the competitions equally, for the first time ever! This is huge. When women first entered the games, they made up just 2.2% of participants. So you better believe we’re celebrating that 50% 124 years later! Not only that, but women only competed in five sports then—now, any game must hold space for both men and women to compete. #Paris2024 How many did you know? 🤔✏️ #Olympics2024 #OlympicGames #Trivia

Sports transcend borders and unite the world through fandom. Join us in the Equality Lounge® in celebration of Athleta's Power of She as we champion the world of opportunity that women's sports provide for current and future leaders. In partnership with Athleta, we’ll celebrate the progress towards gender-parity and spark conversations driving equality from the field to the boardroom.   Join us: https://lnkd.in/gh4GEDM2 #athleta_partner

Melinda French Gates is considered one of the world’s most powerful women, and she’s just awarded retired Olympian, Alyson Felix a $20 million grant to help fund Black maternal health organizations. Felix retired from competing in 2022 and poured herself into maternal health. Black women face a maternal mortality rate is 3X higher than that of white women. Racism in healthcare puts Black women’s lives at risk. In fact, only 5.7% of U.S. physicians are Black. Gender and racial biases within the healthcare system affects diagnoses, treatment plans, and overall care for patients. “Only about 2 percent of charitable giving in the United States goes to organizations focused on women and girls, and only about half a percentage point goes to organizations focused on women of color specifically,” said Gates. Women caring for women in more ways than one—we are here for this! 

She left us speechless. An absolute legend, #CelineDion's live performance marks the superstar’s first performance since revealing that she is living with stiff person syndrome, “a rare, progressive syndrome that affects the nervous system, specifically the brain and spinal cord.” In April she said that it was her goal to see the Eiffel Tower again. Not only did she see it, she sang beneath it on the world's biggest stage. Dion said she was determined to make her return to performing. “I’m working hard every day. But I have to admit, it’s been a struggle. I miss it so much. The people, I miss them. If I can’t run, I’ll walk. If I can’t walk, I’ll crawl. I won’t stop.” She was welcomed with cheers as Paris listened in to her legendary voice singing Edith Piaf’s “L’Hymne à l’amour.” The #OpeningCeremony of the #Paris #Olympics made history tonight, uniting sports, music and fashion along the Seine River with over 3,500 performers, including an incredible performance by #LadyGaga, and 90 boats. What an epic kick-off to #Paris2024. The Female Quotient team is on the ground covering the Games! Stay tuned for so much more.

July 26, 1990 marks the enactment of the Americans with Disabilities Act, a landmark U.S. rights law that extended civil rights protections to persons with disabilities. Judy Heumann, a lifelong advocate for the rights of disabled people, led the charge. She famously said, “Some people say that what I did changed the world. But really, I simply refused to accept what I was told about who I could be. And I was willing to make a fuss about it.” 👏 This #DisabilityPrideMonth we're celebrating the history of the Disability Rights movement!

25-year-old gymnast Lynnzee Brown is set to make history tomorrow as the first Haitian female gymnast to compete in the #Olympics: "We are trying to put a new light on Haiti and all the things that people of Haiti can do." 👏

Did you know… women made their Olympic debut in Paris in 1900? That was 124 years ago, and this summer, in the same city, the Games are boasting gender parity (equal men and women competitors) for the first time EVER. There’s more than 11,000 athletes registered to compete and of those, half are women. We’re already celebrating and it’s only day one. 🎉🏅

Being above the title for a film is a badge of honor for actors. It shows that your presence in itself is a selling point for the film. For “Roman Holiday,” it was stipulated in Gregory Peck’s contract that he was to be the only actor to have their name above the title. This was commonplace for Peck at the time as a leading man. But once he started production with #AudreyHepburn, he quickly realized she deserved top billing. And his prediction came true, she went on to win the #Oscar for the role.

Yusra Mardini joined us in the FQ Interview Studio to share that there’s so much more to refugees than sad stories and disheartening realities. These individuals flee their homelands seeking safety and peace—and when they reach that, they go on to write incredible success stories, many of which will be shared starting today at the #Paris2024 Olympics. Mardini, a Syrian refugee and former Olympic swimmer, will cover the Olympic Refugee team made up of 36 athletes from 11 countries, who have overcome unprecedented obstacles to reach this stage today—and as they compete, they’ll represent 100 million other displaced refugees around the world. With this, the International Olympic Committee kicked off the “1 in 100 Million” campaign to encourage inclusion, raise awareness, and stand in solidarity with displaced refugees. Today, we’re doing the same, cheering them on, and celebrating their stories as beacons of hope and perseverance. “This will be a symbol of hope for all refugees in the world, and will make the world better aware of the magnitude of this crisis. It is also a signal to the international community that refugees are our fellow human beings and are an enrichment to society,” says International Olympic Committee President, Thomas Bach.

More and more women have started to question the automatic assumption that they will take their husband’s name when they get married. In fact, in the U.S., a record number of women are deciding to keep their last name. Among the 20% to 30% who keep their surname, many feel that it preserves their personal and familial identity they have had their whole lives. Others say they have established professional identities that they would like to keep intact. Either way, the decision is a personal choice that we have the freedom to make! We want to know, what does your last name mean to you? 🎥 Jenn Tran #thebachelorette