Women are women, and hurray for that.

When John Galliano declared, “Women are women, and hurray for that,” he spoke not as one weighing philosophy with heavy tomes, but as one exalting a truth both simple and profound. His words are a hymn of gratitude, a joyous recognition of the unique essence of women, not as an idea to be explained away, but as a reality to be celebrated. To say “hurray” is to lift a cry of victory, as though the very existence of women is a triumph of creation.

The ancients would have called this an ode. For in every civilization, from the poets of Greece to the mystics of the East, women have been sung as the lifebearers, the muses, the strength hidden within gentleness, the guardians of hearth and the inspirers of heroes. Galliano’s words, though brief, remind us that to honor women is not to reduce them to roles or masks, but to marvel at their being. Women are women—whole, sovereign, radiant—and that alone is cause for praise.

History offers luminous examples. Consider Joan of Arc, a young woman who defied the expectations of her time, leading armies with a fire that kings themselves could not muster. To the men of her day, her very presence was perplexing, yet undeniable. She was not a “woman pretending to be a man,” but a woman in the fullness of her own power. In her courage, as in Galliano’s exclamation, we see the truth: that to be woman is in itself a strength worth celebrating.

Galliano’s cry also carries a lesson in acceptance. Too often the world has tried to reshape women into something else: to diminish them, to confine them, or to exalt them only in fragments. But to declare “women are women” is to reject these distortions. It is to affirm that their worth needs no justification, no comparison, no disguise. Their identity is their glory, their existence their triumph.

Thus, let us take up the spirit of his words and pass it on to the generations to come. Let there be no hesitation in our gratitude, no reservation in our reverence. Women are women, and that truth is enough to inspire songs, stories, and eternal thanksgiving. Let every voice cry “hurray,” not as a passing cheer, but as a timeless chorus of honor. For in celebrating women, we celebrate life itself.