International Women’s Day the Roxy Earle Way

We caught up with Roxy Earle founder of the #MySizerRox movement and former cast member of the Real Housewives of Toronto about the power of supporting women, and all things International Women’s Day.

What does International Women’s Day mean to you?

R: I love International Women’s Day, I love that it has become this day where so many people rally and do amazing things around the world that are activated by the idea of doing good for the women in the world. I think it’s just this great check-in and reminder to be like yeah we need to keep celebrating this and building each other up because the world is not an equal place for women.

What woman inspires you most?

R: My mom- hands down, she raised four kids, she worked, and right now she finds herself in a position in her life where she tries to redefine and rethink her life because she’s lost her partner. I just think it’s remarkable to watch a woman in her 60’s now have to redefine her happiness and I find it really inspiring.

What made you start the #MySizeRox movement?

R: Well, I was sick and tired of everyone having a conversation about my body that was in a negative light. I don’t like the term plus size and people kept on calling me plus size and I was like I’ve never called a girl a negative size, ever. And I’ve seen a lot of girls wear 000, so why am I plus size? Like why do I have to be my own label?  I literally wanted to own the narrative about my body to ensure it was positive and felt good. Because it’s about me. And so I said stop calling me plus size because I’m my size and my size rocks. So if you want to talk about my body, talk about how my size rocks.

Where do you feel like you draw your confidence and self-awareness from?

R: It’s just inside of me. It’s been instilled in me since I was young and then you layer in accomplishments and it’s funny – in my new condo, I just did a whole wall of accomplishments. And it’s a whole hallway of pictures of me, but it seems – like it might seem vain but for me, it’s like I look at that and every time I walk through the hallway I’m reminded of what I’ve done and that gives me confidence. And then it’s like in your brain and I just think that’s really powerful. So people always ask about where the confidence comes from and I think the more things you do that make you good, for you, the more confident you become.

What are your thoughts on hashtags like #girlboss that show support for female empowerment on social media?

R: I think that they’re like me personally, I’m all about collaboration over competition. But because so many women have had to fight their way, not everyone has [this] point of view. I think International Women’s Day is a place where we kind of all feel bonded by this girl bond where we’re all in this together, we’re all fighting for something together, we all have incredible stories to tell, we’re all bringing something forward and doing it together. So yeah I think [that they’re] important. I think raising women and making a cultural shift towards the idea that we’ve got each other’s backs is also really important.

What is your favourite thing about being a woman?

R: My favourite thing about being a woman is this innate caring that is inside of you when you are a woman. I think that all women, whether they’re mothers or not mothers, they have this sort of like maternal instinct that allows them to care for people in the world and care for other women, and I love having that inside of me. I find that I’m able to connect with women because there’s like a deep caring for one another. We have this really strong connected bond between all of us and we support each other through really big experiences and like I know guys have guy friends and I know guys have friendships and support one another but [for] women, [it’s] inside of us, we’re able to bond on [another] level which I think is really cool.

This Interview has been edited for clarity and length.