If ever a person needed (more) proof that we’re living in a patriarchy, I posit that International Women’s Day is the final argument.
Doesn’t it seem odd that women, at least half of the human population, are given a special day of recognition? Can you imagine a day that honored the achievements of men? What about a Men’s History month?
From a local newspaper article about a IWD parade: “We celebrate all of our accomplishments from early on until now and teach all of our young girls to know how important it is to feel you can do anything you want”
Yeah well, it’s more important to actually make it possible. And you know what else? If a girl could truly do whatever she wanted to do, if she could ever be anything more to the world than just a girl, she wouldn’t need a freaking parade to convince her of it.
Again, imagine a special day once a year where boys are rah-rahed into believing that when they grow up they can do great things just like other men have done. I mean, it’s kind of a given, right? Just as it should be for girls, yes?
Personally, I would rather be acknowledged as a fully realized human being on a daily basis than “celebrated” once a year. The patriarchy will be dead when there no longer exists a need to recognize with parades and banners that the billions of people with vaginas are human too.
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March 10, 2009 at 12:42 am
whatsername
Yah… I don’t like these “days” and “months” all too much either. :\
March 10, 2009 at 2:16 pm
Megan
One hopes that A doesn’t exclude B but is maybe a tool to open the minds of people not actively working for B. I hold out about as much hope for the success of that venture as you do – but I’ll give credit to whoever started it that they probably didn’t intend it as a pat on the head, even if that’s what it’s become.
March 10, 2009 at 6:23 pm
Dizzy
My complaint is certainly not with whomever started it or organizes events – what I mean to say is that if I decide to engage with someone who tells me they don’t think there is such a thing as patriarchy or that women have already achieved full equality and should just stop whining, I’m gonna ask them why we need a special day each year to get convince the world that women have basic human rights and a special month devoted to recognizing that women have done cool shit in the past.
March 21, 2009 at 9:07 pm
Jaecen
You’ve brought up an important issue, but I think your argument is misdirected. A Women’s Day/Month/Year is not an indication of oppression but a willful effort of a group to feel special through their “differences”. I see this all of the time, with public celebrations, interest groups, and scholarships being the most common. I challenge anyone to find a celebration of “Overweight White Agnostic American Male Day”. When I was in college there were specific scholarships for every sexual, racial, religious, economic and ethnic variation under the sun EXCEPT middle-class white Caucasian men.
People don’t want to feel like one of the faceless masses, so they take any opportunity to differentiate themselves whenever they happen to fall of the peak of the societal bell-curve.