Wo(e)man's Day???

Today is 8th March celebrated as International Women's Day all over the world. Yet another women's day has arrived, celebrations have started and the media will make a huge fuss out of it. In fact they have already started doing that since more than a week with numerous contests and programmes to be aired on the so called special day. A lot of hoopla will be created by all, there will be several contests, one or two odd award ceremonies to felicitate women doing great work in their respective areas and some wishes from friends and colleagues will come in, stating how great women are and their diverse roles and multiple qualities. The list is endless. And maybe I too should be happy about all the importance given to women on this day for a change.

But is this really great as much as the brouhaha made about it? Do we really need a women's day?

When I stop to think over it I am really not amused with the idea of a women's day. Why we don't need a men's day is possibly because deep in our heart we know that all the days including this is theirs only. I am not a feminist but I am pained at the plight of women across the country and the globe as well. Just singling out a day and creating a fuss about them is not the solution to numerous problems that women face across the world. It would be unfair on my part to state that men don't face problems in their life. In fact with increasing competition, advancing technology and increasing expectations in all areas no human being is devoid of problems and frustrations. In fact men are also subject to a lot of problems, exploitations, harassments sometimes even by women also. But what I want to actually bring to light is that man never faces the price of being born as man whereas almost all the problems associated with women are simply because she is born a woman.

We are in the 21st century and we boast that we have come of age in almost every aspect. An average woman irrespective of whether she lives in urban or rural areas still face the same set of problems. Cases of rapes, sexual harassment, molestation, eve teasing are on the rise more than ever. I agree that today the scene has changed somewhat with the accused getting serious punishments but does giving punishments solve the problem? And how many cases actually go on trial? And even if these things happen will it be able to decrease the amount of such horrendous activities and the terror that a woman faces in her day to day life? And will it be able to erase the hurt, the embarrassment, the pain and the social stigma that the victim faces throughout her life without her fault? So many such cases we never even get to hear about because the victim eventually ends up her life unable to bear all that she has to go through.

Sometimes it is difficult to decide whether this is more terrible or the alarming rate of increasing female foeticide in the world. What more inhuman thing than this that a life which has not even evolved completely, which has not even set her foot in the world is strangled in the womb itself merely because she is a female. We talk about human rights, equal rights for women. Can we stoop lower than this? Apart from the more critical problems they still face the same gender bias in home as well as office, the only difference is that these things happen in a far more subtle way than before when it used to happen openly.

A woman whether its a question of her education, career, love or marriage and even trivial issues as choosing her friends, clothes, etc. is more accountable to the people around her. Not only this so many married women have to face physical and mental abuse at the hands of their spouses and in-laws in the name of dowry, bearing a girl child and several other issues. Where such is not the case and everything looks hunky dory, in such cases also her emotional needs and the right to take decisions on her own are never thought to be relevant. We think that education and awareness can change all this. But more surprisingly the urban class or the so called educated urban class is as much a party to all these heinous activities as much as their underprivileged counterparts.

We women don't require a women's day at all. This seems just a gimmick for feminists and politicians to take the platform and banter about women upliftment and equality for a day. What good would come from it if we talk about an issue and then forget it once the day is done? Women don't want to be treated as privileged these days. They would like to earn every ounce of respect, power, prestige and every penny that they get. The society gives the women privileges and reservations in several areas because it is in a way somewhat guilty about the actual treatment meted to women throughout the ages. If really women would be treated equally then what would be the need for their upliftment, reservations and hundreds of other campaigns to bring her at par with men? It seems like masking the ugly interior beneath a decorative and lovely exterior.

Time and again women have proved their equality with their deeds. Its a shame that something which is so obvious doesn't still sink in. Basically it displays the mental disability of the society in understanding this. Actually what needs to change is the underlying mind set of the people to not be biased and prejudiced on the basis of gender. People do not understand that if women are treated as equal human beings it will lead to happier families and eventually lead to a better society as well. These things have to be be ingrained in an individual on the root level, right from the childhood with the right kind of education and setting the right kind of examples. Its high time that women also put their foot down and refuse to accept any kind of prejudice against them.

And when such a day comes, when not even one woman is subject to humiliation or exploited in any way just because she is a woman maybe then I will agree that the world has arrived and then maybe that day I will also revel in the woman's day celebrations. But then maybe we will not need a woman's day at all. Amen...