Hi everyone,

International Women's Day is coming up and I'm sure you all have the same question: what will my partner get me for IWD '21? If your partner is a woman, I'm sure you're equally wondering: how can I adequately recognise her magnificence? Well never fear because here is the official Fem Fri IWD gift guide.

This could be a thoughtful gift – a canvas by the second gen abstract expressionist Joan Mitchell (no relation, but great to see other Mitchells doing well):

https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2021/contemporary-curated-2/untitled

If you're interested in a bit more on Joan Mitchell's life and career before you start bidding, this article provides a summary:

An oft-repeated anecdote recounts how, at a party, a man once approached Elaine de Kooning and Joan Mitchell and asked them what they, as “women artists,” thought about something. “Elaine,” said Mitchell, “let’s get the hell out of here.” Critic Peter Schjeldahl, a one-time witness to the artist’s meanness, concludes that Mitchell was quick to escape any situation that threatened her freedom. In a 2002 review of her Whitney Museum retrospective, Schjeldahl wrote: “Her orneriness was the palace guard of her lyricism.”

https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-abstract-expressionist-joan-mitchell-complicated-driven-genius

Now here's something absolutely stunning. How about a first edition of A Room of One's Own, one of fewer than 500 signed by Virginia Woolf herself. This doesn't just say I love and value you – it says I love you, I value you, and I know that you need the right conditions to succeed as you deserve.

https://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=30834344567

Of course the whole text of A Room of One's Own is online which means that you can read it in full for considerably less than £31K:

Fiction here is likely to contain more truth than fact. Therefore I propose making use of all the liberties and licences of a novelist, to tell you the story of the two days that preceded my coming here–how, bowed down by the weight of the subject which you have laid upon my shoulders, I pondered it, and made it work in and out of my daily life. I need not say that what I am about to describe has no existence; Oxbridge is an invention; so is Fernham; 'I' is only a convenient term for somebody who has no real being. Lies will flow from my lips, but there may perhaps be some truth mixed up with them; it is for you to seek out this truth and to decide whether any part of it is worth keeping.

http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks02/0200791.txt

Finally, what could be more lovely than a ring that is a big startled bird made of precious and semi precious gems. The hardwearing gemstones of topaz, tourmaline and diamond make it ideal for everyday wear. This really communicates WOAH GUESS WHAT ITS INTERNATIONAL WOMENS DAY AGAIN AND YOURE STILL SO INCREDIBLE!!! (birds are great but they don't use a lot of punctuation)

https://onlineonly.christies.com/s/colorful-whimsy-jewels-michele-della-valle/michele-della-valle-topaz-tourmaline-diamond-bird-ring-23/113448

Here are some other great ways to celebrate International Women's Day:

• Hire a competent woman
• Pay her market rate
• Let her get on with her job

Happy weekend everyone,

A xx.