It’s International Women’s Day and women all over are buzzing with delight. But much as I appreciate women and what they have accomplished, I don’t like Women’s Day. Here’s why:
- There will be some cursory media coverage of how women have made great strides in almost every field and how they are strong and powerful. A starlet will be quoted on how great her mom made her who she is. Yeah, right!
- Women may be gifted and greeted on this—but they will continue to be suppressed and oppressed by their own families. Want to study abroad? We’re saving up for your wedding/ brother’s education. Hungry?– Your father and brother must eat first. Want to play sports? –Girls don’t do that. Oh, so-and-so had a baby girl? How sad!
- And don’t even get me started on the crimes against women. Women will continue to be persecuted, raped, groped, eve-teased and violated in the worst ways possible. According to a just-released report, nearly one in four Indian men has committed sexual violence at some point in their lives. What kind of society do we live in?
- Women (and men) are bombarded with marketing messages: Do a chocolate massage, get 15% off; buy 2 amazingly-atrocious shirts, get 1 free… Stuff like that. Yeah, we love shopping, and we love clothes, makeup, accessories, spa treatments. But we’re not just about spending money.
- So we’re also about multi-tasking and multiple roles. As a friend on Facebook just posted: “So many roles—daughter, wife, friend, sister, aunt, grandma!” True… but even men are sons, husbands, friends, brothers, uncles and grandpas. 🙂
- Let’s face it—not all women are the epitome of grace, perfection, elegance, charm and dignity. A hop into the Virar fast on a weekday evening will shatter any such myth. If women have been through all sorts of struggle, so have men. (I’m all for equality—not necessarily one better than the other).
- About the issues of economic and social equality, we’re still far away from such a day. It’s just another utopian idea.
The day we don’t need to acknowledge or “celebrate” women—that will be the real International Women’s Day.
Anyways, Happy Women’s Day to all Speaking Chic readers.
Very interesting article & I totally get your POV. The general tendency is to either glorify women (almost as great goddesses) – & make her the epitome of all things nice (so that she remains a good girl) or treat her like cattle.. Basically a unidimensional view. I would really like to be treated just as a person – just as good or bad as the next in line.
But on the other hand – if having a “day” results in some benefits or schemes being launched by govts/corporates & that helps make the life of even one girl/woman better – I think the hype is worth it 🙂
@Tanveer- Yes, I think some of the govt schemes to promote better lives for girls/women can be effective, esp in smaller towns. But we don’t really need a special day for that. 🙂
Agree 🙂 On so many counts – especially on not all women need be celebrated and also the fact that women’s day is a marketing gimmick similar to valentine’s day….and women in India really have so much ground to cover before we celebrate a day in their name. Kudos to this post 🙂
@Anamika– Thanks! Let’s not even get started on marketing gimmicks… agreed, Indian society has a long way to go before we can say we truly respect women.
I completely agree! If all these years we’ve been shouting for equality, why do we need a women’s day? Why not a Man’s day too?
@Rukhshar- I’m sure men will be happy to get a day dedicated to them, LOL. But seriously, equality doesn’t come with special “days”, it comes with social change.