Point...So are all other days for Men??
Are women a minority? Is celebrating womanhood, the success of women limited to a few celebrities who have made their supposed 'mark' on various fields? And should it be done in the way it is now? Commercializing an event that should be almost revolutionary,
I don't wish to 'celebrate' womanhood. I wish to celebrate the work that women do. All the work that women do. From cleaning utensils to flying planes. My feminist school of thought says 'Bring dignity to all labour. And stop qualifying work to be men's or women's, and equality might be closer around the corner.' I am not going to sit around and applaud only those who've had their name flashed in newsprint or raise high the flag of some feminists. Respect the work that women do, and you'll have more men willing to do what women do.
Of course I know that the opportunity lost by women is far higher than men.
The true essence of feminism is not in denying women their identities, but to help them exercise their right to explore their 'others', their 'whole' identity. And this right is due to men as well.
So I don't particularly think I need to be taken out for dinner on Woman's day. Woman's Day is not about relationships, or about individuals. It is to explore the 'psychological minority' that women have become, and to gently contemplate on where our identities have walked off to.
Fight Discrimination.
Resist Subversion.
And don't take the weight of the world on your shoulders.
Compiled by: Ms. Olive Brady
YCS/YSM,
St. Mary's Chennai