The day after women’s day

Abstract:

International Women’s Day. It is a day that has its birth in the socialist movement. Its purpose range from cause to celebratory. Some take it as a landmark day to launch new causes, others give themselves a holiday, some mark the day by giving and accepting gifts, some others pull two shifts to make ends meet, yet for some others in certain corners of the world, it is just another day.

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Some do not even know about the existence of such a day. Their day goes on just like any other day – with chores, children, family and menial jobs if any. That said, this is not an article to explore pains women undergo and sacrifices they make. Rath-er it is an insight into what there is for women the day after curtains are drawn on ‘a day that celebrates womanhood’ in all its forms. What happens with the next sunrise? And the day after that?

To what do we attribute the celebrations of the day? To what achievements should the day subscribe? To what breakthroughs in the lives of women? To what change in perception of women by the soci-ety they live in? These are the questions one should seek answers to if only to understand what real freedom to women is.

International Women’s Day takes multiple celebratory forms. It is remembering the many fights women from different parts of the world have had to put up to salvage their rights that takes precedence

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over everything else and rightly so. It is remember-ing and honouring those women who stood up for their rights, for their ideas, ideals and due privileges, mainly political and human rights. We have come a long way since 1857, New York (women working at textile mills and clothing factories united to protest inhumane working conditions and low pay), but rea-son to worry is that the fundamental mental make-up and attitude towards women have not changed in all these years irrespective of the strides civilisations and their women have made in astronomy, medical sci-ence, technology or sports.

Women have broken ranks, working on par with men, sometimes reaching positions of top leader-ship where they have led and continue to lead men as CEOs, Directors, even Chief Ministers and Prime Minister. But that is just a handful. They are just the few women who followed their hearts despite all the public criticism, slander and discouragement. Why the slander? Why the partiality? If a son may be en-couraged to pursue whatever is of interest to him, shouldn’t the parent encourage his daughter to do the same? Why put controls in front of her before she can even start dreaming? ‘Welfare’ and ‘safety’ of the girl probably stand as the most two overused and abused terms that work against the progress of the girl child.

The difficult but essential questions that need tackling urgently are:

  • Why are there lesser women in leadership roles?
  • What prevents their ascent?
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  • Why don’t young women have the same ac-cess to employment and participation in decision-making as young men?
  • How does it become possible to trivialise their contributions at work and home and, take away what is duly their right and share of limelight?
  • Does she enjoy equal freedom to think, act, speak and trade ideas and be taken seriously by the menfolk around the conference table?
  • Are people ready to accept the intellectual value a woman brings to the table, not just her beau-tiful presence, lingering perfume, new hair-do and skirt?                                                           
  • Why even after all the advancements in civil-isation, is she looked upon as an object of enjoyment?

"Women have broken ranks, working on par with men, sometimes reaching positions of top leadership"

The simple response to most questions is that ‘Women are shirkers. They are there just for the money, not a career’. Actually, the same can be said of 90% of male employees. Face it, there will be strivers and shirkers in male and female employee groups. There are enough examples globally of high-performing lady managers who now hold leadership roles in multinational companies. Those who have worked with these ladies know that saying women work to earn only is plain baloney.

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To bring up a common sexist example, there are many in both sexes in every organisation that refer to a woman as ‘that female’ but no woman refers to a co-worker as ‘that male’ even in passing. To refer to any woman so is not just rude, it is a character flaw. It shows your upbringing. As adults and people who are educated and hold decent job profiles, there is a code of conduct to adhere to.
Except for the core biological differences, men and women are the same. They are wired to be able do the same things that is physically and mentally possible. Women may look physically less built than men but they make up for it with their grit. It is train-ing and knowledge that makes an exceptional hunter not muscle power.

Coming to celebrations of women’s day at college and corporate level, there are specific treats designed for the ladies who are requested to dress up and enjoy themselves that day. At most corporate houses, cabins and bays are decorated, treats and flowers are hand-ed out, games exclusively for women are conducted while the men quietly look on and cheer them. While the corporate concept is to appreciate the women who touch their lives, the whole point is lost if a woman is not put on par with her male colleague, delegated the same responsibilities, be heard out, appreciated or admonished in the same vein. If a woman wants equality, so be it. Let her work for it just as a man should. No more, no less. Men and women need to absorb this fact very clearly without which equality will remain a word restricted to the dictionary and fiery speeches.

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There is nothing to celebrate about being a wom-an on Women’s Day if every woman does not make it a personal choice to rise above herself and her male compatriots every single day. There is nothing to celebrate if she does not stand up for herself and

"Women may look physically less built than men but they make up for it with their grit"

lets people dictate to her what she is better off do-ing. Allowing life to be dictated by the convenience and fancy of others calling it societal norm is foolish. Never forget: society is us. Predators and slanderers exist. So does a woman’s will power. It is certainly disheartening to be continuously given a pass and be told that she ‘cannot’ all the way from babyhood till date, but primarily only the woman can help herself. Because over the centuries woman have been dealt a raw deal one way or the other (despite all the legal fights, legislations and reforms) and an entire civilisa-tion’s DNA has the belief ingrained deep into it that it is okay for a woman to aspire for and achieve only so much of anything, she is going to have to go the extra mile even today. Because one section of wom-en (and men) don’t give a damn about improvement of women in the society, the handful of women that want to make a difference to their own lives and that of their gender are finding their work made unneces-sarily tougher. National and international laws can be used to secure and protect women’s rights but unless it is made illegal to hold a woman like a secondary human being mentally, nothing is going to change.

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There is no option so far in the legal framework for such a thing. Fostering debates, sloganeering and pushing for reforms work once in a while. But raising the bar every day and striving a little more till others are adequately cognizant of a women’s capabilities is what will work in the real world. The need is to rise as an individual and a group, and prove that a woman is no less. It will take years to change mind-sets but at the end of the fight, women will have achieved what they set out to achieve – their dreams and equality for their sisters.

In closing, a woman’s fight is with herself: to shed her inhibitions, to have the guts to shut out pessimists, to make war against indifference, to have a mind of her own and a voice that she should choose to listen to. She needs to spearhead the movement for herself, by herself. She needs to be the change she wants to see. The strength of this determined approach to real freedom will shake the world and its nay-sayers at their very base. That will be the day for celebrating women’s day.

BUDDING MANAGERS

APRIL 2014 ISSUE


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Author:  buddingmanagers
Posted On:  Tuesday, 13 May, 2014 - 13:11

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