Should we in India need a special day for women, namely, the International Women's day?
This question might sound provocative, particularly after I received a citation honouring me on the Women's Day. I am very much agreeable to honoring the hard work and contribution of any one - irrespective of being a woman or man. But thinking of the underlying concept of the International Women's Day, I have certain reservations.
The International Women's Day was adopted by the UN sometime in the 80s with specific goals such as gender equality, reproductive rights and to stop violence and abuse against women. While I am in complete agreement with the last two, the idea of gender equality is misleading. Man and woman are unique in their own ways and cannot be made equal to each other. By gender equality, the woman is made to do works that men do, in addition to the works that she alone can do as a woman. The woman is brainwashed to think that she can be a Super Woman and a Super Mom which in reality increases the burden on her.
The Women's day was conceived in the western society where women were not treated well. They lacked the voting right even in places like Switzerland until 1971. In India, women were worshiped as Goddesses for any kind of prosperity. Moreover, if we monetise the work they do as mothers and home-makers, that runs into trillions of dollars. They are responsible for creating the future generations of the country.
With such thoughts in my mind I suggested a title, 'Should we need to celebrate the Women's Day?' when I was invited to be the guest speaker in Twitter Spaces on the evening of 10th March, 2024.
Many women and men joined the discussion. Smt. Uma Anandan, the BJP councilor of T. Nagar constituency also joined towards the end of the discussion. Interestingly, none voiced against this view given by me. All those who participated talked along with the same lines as mine. The recorded version of the session can be accessed here:
https://twitter.com/i/spaces/1PlKQDkVONkxE?s=20
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