DEDICATED TO ALL THE FANTASTIC WOMEN I KNOW
Why do a special day for women? Aren’t they the partners, ideal foils to man? Surely we do not perceive them as a different species; rather aren’t they the better half of mankind’s creation ? I sincerely hope this is not seen as a day to celebrate a milestone we haven’t jointly achieved but more of a recognition to those who continue striving towards a goal, that speaks of justice and total equality.
I somehow seem to have an issue with designating a special day for a group that in several ways have shown themselves more adept in several things than men. As I’d stated earlier, I do not consider lifting a 300 lb kettlebell as masculinity, so flaunting the so hyped macho-ism is what I consider as nothing more than sexist. To borrow a cliché, women have certainly come a long way since the feminist bra-burning rabble rousing. While that may have helped the cause, the state of womenkind in some medieval cultures continues basically unaltered. Womenfolk in the industrialized nations have evolved since the 50’s and where it was considered fairly regular to see them as “kitchen-keepers” its the third world and third world where issues arise.
Having lived in several parts of the world, it was a disheartening sight to view the wide chasm between the sexes. Even the so-called “forward”, progressive regions see them as nothing more than glamor dolls, sex objects and mothers. Now moving to the other end of Asia, where birth of girls is still seen as a curse in many cultures, it is evident we have not moved forward too much. And then to pile on other social issues, female infanticide, human trafficking in form of child prostitution and for that I can absolutely accept no excuses. It is vile, it is inhumane and needs to be stopped. As simple as that. Stopped.
If designating a day as Women’s day will actually help get us closer to eradicating these, so be it. But shouldn’t we be working towards resolving these issues everyday. Pray tell, what did we end up achieving on the 8th of March? Throw me a crumb and I’d be glad to substantiate.
The ugly war of words in the current GOP presidential primaries is yet another prime case of how women can be treated with disdain and be called names by people who look to get the popular votes. There can be no justification for this churlish behavior.
Through this piece and through efforts of many of my co-workers and friends, who I know agree with the concept of “Action trumps lip-service” , I would hope by the time we are at 08-Mar 2017, an objective statement of declaration can be made on strides taken to rid the world of generation old issues. May be at that time, we can actually celebrate achieving a milestone, not just treat it as a day to share futile greetings.
If you are a women and if you are reading this, I would love to hear about your perceptions.
Another heart rending piece from CNN- http://www.cnn.com/2016/03/04/world/sex-trafficking-horror-hope/index.html. DO WHAT YOU CAN TO STOP THIS!!!
made it in life.
Ashok's rantings- Travel, musings et al 