To be proud of celebrating International Women’s Day

Features Editor Jenny Proudfoot breaks down the misconceptions around the annual celebration...

Today marks International Women’s Day 2022, a date that feels a lot poignant once recent reports that COVID-19 has set ladies back decades.

To me, it's evident that we want International Women’s Day quite ever. However, scrolling through my social media platforms, I worry that I’m within the minority.

‘Didn’t we tend to simply have one amongst these?’, ‘Isn’t this simply a chance for “feminists” to man-hate? ‘Do we actually would like a world Women’s Day?’ – these were just a few of the various messages that involved me.

To those individuals, I’m penning this piece for you.

I in person realize it problematical that International Women’s Day is often a factious subject, once its sole aim is to realize equality, however, I feel that the backlash is right down to a key misunderstanding of what International Women’s Day is and why we tend to celebrate it.

Firstly, some individuals assume that International Women’s Day is simply for women, and consequently, anti-men.

Let me clear this up for you. International Women’s Day is for women and men – everyone seems to be welcome. The day is concerning gender equality, and so as to realize that we tend to should elevate women. that's the truth. It's additionally named Civil awareness day, Anti-sexism day, and Anti-discrimination day terms which some individuals like.

Another frequent misunderstanding, I even have witnessed is that the day was thought up by a gaggle of loud millennials who wished to shout at men.

Again, let me set you straight. International Women’s Day has been celebrated per annum since 1911 – that’s over one hundred years. And its two-fold message currently remains an equivalent as once it absolutely was started – to celebrate the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of ladies, however additionally to mark a decision to action for fast gender parity.

International Women’s Day may be a collective day of the world celebration and concern for gender parity, the official IWD website states.  ‘International Women’s Day is all concerning unity, celebration, reflection, support, and action – no matter what appears like globally at a neighborhood level. However one factor is obviously, International Women’s Day has been occurring for brim over a century – and continues to grow from strength to strength.’

‘But why is it ok for you to possess a world Women’s Day, however not on behalf of me to possess a world Men’s Day?’, one of my male friends asked me seriously last week.

This is one thing that I feel a lot of individuals have issues returning to terms with, thus to him and to you, I say: as a result, we tend to aren't on equal footing.

We board a world that prioritizes men and as was declared last year, we tend to be one hundred years off from having actual gender parity. to urge to its stage, we've to push women up as exhausting as we are able to and amplify their voices. this can be what International Women’s Day is for.

Once we tend to are on equal footing, then we are able to question whether or not a world Day is critical, however till then, I’ll be mistreatment the annual celebration to admire the unimaginable ladies around ME and marvel at however so much we've come back, while line out the difference and the way so much we've to travel.

‘I don’t in person feel any discrimination’, a spouse of mine told me. ‘All of around me treat me like an equal thus I don’t assume I ought to mark the day.

This is another key interpretation concerning International Women’s Day – it’s not concerning people; it’s concerning ladies everyplace.

We are also lucky enough to measure during a privileged system wherever our gender isn’t on the face of it holding us back on each day, however what concerning our international sisters? the ladies in the African nations wherever men are de jure allowed to beat their wives ‘for the aim of correcting’, those in Malta wherever a person will reportedly be exempt from penalty for snatch a lady if he marries her, and also the ladies within the 100+ countries wherever kid wedding continues to be legal. These are the ladies who are fighting to possess their voices detected at once and that they would like our facilitate.

If you don’t wish to celebrate it for yourself, please a minimum contemplates celebrating International Women’s Day for them.

Together, we are able to keep the spoken communication going and move ever any within the direction of gender equality.