Lets not Demean Men this Women’s Day

It’s been more than 10 years that I was asked by my mentor editor of local weekly to write the frontpage article on Women since Women’s day was just around the corner.

Not exactly able to recall the entire content of that article, I discreetly remember the punchline which was ‘Every day should be a Women’s Day’. This was much before every unique or a dedicated day was largely celebrated in real life than virtually! Later as a tech journalist, Women’ Day used be a frantic day with the stories of women achievers in the field of technology to be given prominence. Having interacted or interviewed several of these women achievers, a proud feeling definitely used to creep in..

So the buzz around Women’s day has again started and since this is the age of viral videos, I came across this clip where young women talk about ‘uncelebrating Women’s Day’ as every day should be a Woman’s Day.  Also in that campaign, patriarchy is challenged and a few very valid questions raised. Although I didn’t agree to a few, I do agree to concerns like why a woman or a daughter is not asked to lit the funeral pyre of her deceased parents or why a mother is not allowed to attend the wedding celebratioms of her own son and many more..

However,  a women’s day should not be used as an excuse to run down Men. We rather need to empower women. Any tribe or community grows when they hold hands to leap forward. A more constructive thought would be to rise up together and show solidarity amongst women rather than diminishing the other gender. As a soceity, we are witnessing transition times where certain old beliefs are completely wiped out and certain mindsets have just been started to be challenged. It is a long way to go for the actual results or the fruits of this labour to appear. It’s going to be a rather prolonged process where there could be many setbacks and even few women bearing the brunt.

In our aggressiveness to change the soceity dynamics and to establish women as an equal force, the focus should not be deviated. The idea is to empower women and not to deflate men. Both function as pillars of a family which is the fundamental unit of a society. Whatever role a woman has, she should feel important and respected for that role.  Why we have to look upto others for that respect and recognition? Let us first give ourselves due worth and be proud of the role assigned to us. When you are doing something affirmative and  constructively, you don’t need to look upto others for approval. And it is absolutely against the grace and the very core of being a woman to disgrace a fellow being. It’s not a rat race to prove ourselves against the other gender but to march ahead with full dignity and challenge the old thoughts through our actions which speak volumes.

Meanwhile campaigns will be run, celebrations, gifts and dinner dates will still mark this Women’s day. From that article many years ago, a defining change is certainly palpable. The change is happening slowly every day and that’s where the real celebration lies…