Women's Day Special - 1

Why I Don't Celebrate Women's Day

"You didn't wish me on Women's Day!!"  She was shouting, almost scolding me.  It was about 8 PM on 8th March, celebrated world wide as women's day. I hadn't wished her.  And that did set me wondering.

 

Why, why at all hadn't I wished her?  I knew it was women's day.  The newspapers, the radio and the billboards all across town had been screaming it into my ears since so many days.  There were conferences happening all over town to celebrate women's day.  From felicitation functions to morchas against domestic violence, woman's day was in-your-face.  So then, why had I not wished her - a Happy Women's Day? 

 

I thought and I thought, and I concluded this:  There Is No Celebration Happening Here!

For Heaven's sake, Women's Day is no celebration.  If at all it is an event, it is a mourning event.  Why?? Well, this is going to be kinda tough to explain, but I'll try.

 

Let me try to make a point using a negative stance. 

 

Why don't we celebrate men's day?  Simply because, we believe that men enjoy their rightful place in the society and there is no need to designate a special day in the calendar when we need to bring the focus to "men's issues".  Conclusively, women must not have yet obtained their rightful place in the society and that is the reason why we need to designate a special day for them.  On this day, women's issues are brought to the world's attention - issues of domestic violence, issues of inequality, issues of gender discrimination.

 

So what makes you think that it is a cause for celebration?  To acknowledge that we still need a "Women's Day", is to acknowledge that women have yet to obtain their rightful place in the society.  The day of a beautiful equality is yet to come.  It's a horizon we yet need to conquer.  A day when a woman is not discriminated against just because she is a woman; and that she is celebrated in her multiple roles - a mother, a sister, a daughter, a wife and a daughter-in-law.  A day when the role of the feminine is accepted to be as important as the role of the masculine.  A day when  compassion is considered equal to strength. 

 

That, my friends, will be a day of celebration, a day I'll gladly wish her.  For now, the very existence of women's day, is a cause for mourning.  And I refuse to wish any woman, a "Happy Woman's Day".