Women do not need a specific day for celebration. They are not a movement neither a thing, but a beautiful and powerful creature of nature. By celebrating a specific day, one cannot hide the injustice, unfairness and cruelty which have been done with women. Giving appreciation highlights the issues which were faced (and are being faced) by women.
I assume as to what do people intend to prove on this specific day? Doesn’t a woman’s daily contributions need appreciation? Doesn’t a woman need her natural and fundamental rights? Doesn’t a woman’s issues need to be highlighted? Just on a specific day, women’s existence matter, then what about other days?
We have heard it all before. Women are sexually harassed and assaulted. They are discriminated in the workplaces, excluded from political and decision-making authorities, and even women, who have it all, cannot seem to get it right.
International Women’s Day comes and goes every year. But it fails to account for the diverse grievances, needs and expectations of women in varied contexts. Some criticize it as an occasion that turns the recognition of women and their achievements into exceptional circumstances.
After that, normality resumes, a normality in which the patriarchy dismisses issues affecting women and in which women are discriminated, harassed and marginalised on a daily basis.
I am not against it entirely. I think any opportunity to teach girls and boys about awesome females’ role models and the importance of gender equality is a good one. But part of me is thinking that if you want to celebrate women or women’s achievements, why not to do it today, tomorrow, any day and everyday?
My criticism on International Women’s Day (IWD) reminds me a lot of the criticism that black-history month gets; it is a way out of our guilt and a month-long band-aid over centuries worth of justice. Here is a whole group of people who have been oppressed, disrespected, exploited and cheated out of something in the past. So, let’s give them an occasion on the calendar but no so like, “Hey come, tomorrow it is back to business as usual.”
The main reason I hate Women’s Day is because I am not stupid enough to think that such a shallow outpouring of faux solidarity will, for one single second, improve the lives of women genuinely suffering around the world. And that is why I am just not that into International Women’s Day. Because we have been thrown a bone and been told it is a gift.