3 reasons why Eleanor Roosevelt is the original #GirlBoss #WonderWomanWednesday

International Women’s Day 2016 may have passed, but that doesn’t mean we’ll stop celebrating and promoting the cause of women everywhere! Tea by Twenty3, our basic line of quirky graphic tees that aim to inspire self-reflection, is all about empowering women to unabashedly celebrate themselves and indulge in the self-love that they deserve.

So what's with the name "Tea"?

Tea isn't just a play on "t-shirt", or a random word we picked out to christen our new line of basics. Our graphic designers wanted their work to have a name that would adequately convey the sense of strength, confidence, and femininity that they've imbued into their designs.

So we decided it was only appropriate for this collection to pay homage to a woman who we think is an absolute boss: Eleanor Roosevelt. Eleanor, the First Lady of the United States of America from 1933 to 1945 and a firm advocate for causes she believed in, has said lots of cool things, including, apparently, this gem:

"A woman is like a tea bag --- you never know how strong she is until she gets in hot water."

We can't describe Eleanor as anything less than a force of nature.

1. She broke new ground in issues like equal rights for women. During the war, she was one of the first to push for factory jobs to be given to women, in an era where women were expected to stay home and act demure.

“If I were of a debutante age I would go into a factory–any factory where I could learn a skill and be useful.”

Following the war, she was heavily involved in the drafting of the New Deal, in which she advocated for women higher wages and more white-collar jobs. She chaired the first Presidential Commission on the Status of Women, and was a prolific and highly influential newspaper columnist advancing the cause of women everywhere.

2. She fought for underrepresented racial minorities. She was one of the only voices in the White House to argue for equal benefits for all races under the New Deal, and refusing to acquiesce to demands for racial segregation (she once placed a chair in the center aisle of a public meeting that adopted racially-segregated seating). She broke precedent by inviting hundreds of African-American guests to the White House, when parts of the country were still segregated and racial tensions were high.

3. She played an instrumental role in the drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Even after the death of her husband, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, her stature in the global civil rights movement was such that she was elected the first chairperson of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights. Following her death, the UN posthumously awarded her one of its first Human Rights Prizesin 1968 in recognition of her work.

In an era when women had far less opportunity to be seen and heard than they do today, Eleanor resolutely pushed through glass ceilings and tried to help others do the same. We're proud to honour Eleanor's inspirational life in Tea by Twenty3. To Eleanor, and other women like her, this one's for you.