Damn!
Where is a camera when you need? The lady going for the 6 am mass in women’s
day attire would have made a great picture but then there’s no need to cry over
spilled milk.
Urban
folklore is awash with many takes on what the International Day of the Women
should mean. Some say on this occasion, it is the turn of the women to provide
for the family as they step out to catch fun all day. Others say it is up to
men to relieve women of their household chores like doing the dishes, cooking,
and cleaning. [Lol. In line with this way of thinking, one is tempted to ask: What
about intimacy? ] Simply put and if urban folklore is any accurate indication
of our collective beliefs, the International Day of the Women is the time when women
are entitled to party like rock stars far into the early hours of March 9
and drink and drink irresponsibly till drunkenness sets in. This is an unfortunately
disappointing interpretation of the day’s meaning. It is equally distracting as
it takes attention away from core issues amongst which, I think, should feature this: which women should celebrate the International Day of the Women.
Who
was the day chosen for?
As
one can clearly deduct from the expression "International Day of the Women",
women are the reason this day was set aside. It is against a backdrop of
discrimination, violence and suffering amongst other negatives directed at
women folk worldwide that this day was created to flood women’s issues with attention
so that women can be empowered, become autonomous and no longer be asides in
the male-dominated world. However in light of the above conceptual origins and current
practices increasingly far removed from the original objectives, it is worth wondering
whether every women should celebrate this day as it now seems there exists a growing impression this day is the day when everything goes; the day when women
have the right to engage in and perpetuate the debaucheries hitherto visible
only among men folk. One gets the strange impression that over a century after
a day was set aside to focus on women's issues, the compass has been lost and women have generally gone astray, partying and
celebration slowly but surely usurping the place of struggle and assertion although the latter values are
still very much needed to further further women’s agenda.
 |
| An apt reminder of what the day should be by a Facebook user |
The
only two women who should celebrate
Going
by the sentiment expressed in the last sentence above, I think only two women
should celebrate this day. The first is the woman who has taken every opportunity given
to her by International Day of the Woman activism values like empowerment,
gender equality and quotas such to name a few. The second woman who should celebrate
this day is she who is a self-made woman irrespective of International Day
of the Woman activism. This second women should celebrate more, with greater
intensity and blaze but being who she is I am sure she has no time to waste on
march pasts, sewing special attire and partying because her time is money.
These
women even deserve to be celebrated but you will barely find them as they are
busy doing something to advance themselves and/or their families/loved ones.
Finally
These
two women are, in my humble male opinion, the only women who should celebrate Women’s day because they best reflect the values of struggle and assertion
which symbolized and still do symbolize the lives of women. Looking at them
gives a better picture of how far women have come and how far they still need
to go. The party and outing-minded women provide a much too narrow portrayal of
women folk.
Whoever
agrees or disagrees should kindly leave a comment.
