... om något som gnagt i mig ända sedan en av mina kunder i morse gratulerade mig på Internationella Kvinnodagen. Och jag känner att jag skulle vilja dela med mig av den texten här också.
Someone wished me a “happy International Womens Day" today. And I feel like this someone, like so many others, has completely missed what the point of this day is. I know I’m being a party pooper here, but I need to let this out. And I am NOT going to apologise for it, as I instinctively did before editing this text and removing every sign of apology for making my opinion heard (the original version read: "Sorry for being a party pooper here, but...").
The 8th of March is not a day to congratulate women for being women. Because statistically speaking, being a woman is actually a pretty bad thing. Statistically speaking, it is not something to celebrate.
The 8th of March is not a day for men to feel better about themselves by buying their wife flowers, or wishing their female friends “Happy International Womens Day”, or bringing a pink/purple/flowery cake to the office. And if you do, at LEAST let it be accompanied by a sensible, open-minded conversation about (in)equality.
And the 8th of March is certainly NOT a day for whataboutism, or for men to complain about the fact that no one makes a fuss about International Men’s Day. Seriously, don’t even go there.
The 8th of March is a day for us all to focus on the numerous issues that women face in society today. Whether that be discrimination, rape culture or “simply” society’s constant pressure on us women to be slim but not skinny, curvy but not too curvy, confident but not bossy, to try hard but not too hard, to wear makeup but not too much makeup, to be sexy but not too sexy, to lift but not too heavy, to be a perfect mum while being a perfect wife (and friend, and employee, and…), to make our opinion heard but not too loud, to support each other but not too much… I could go on for a while here, but I won’t.
The 8th of March is a day to think about the strong women, past and present, who have fought for their rights and in one way or other stood up for what is today 49.6% of the world.
The 8th of March is a day to reflect on various women’s situations around the world, and to understand how much work we still have left to do before we are even close to achieving equality.
The 8th of March is a day to think about what you - man or woman - can do to make the world a better place for the 3.7 billion women that live in it. It doesn’t have to be anything huge, but we can all can do something. For example: If you are man living in a household where a woman does most of the planning, cooking, tidying and general running of the household - why not try and change that? Not just today, but every single day from now on. If you are a woman living in a household where you often end up doing most of the planning, cooking, tidying and general running of the household - why not try and change that? Not just today, but every single day from now on. Baby steps.
I am by no means suggesting that women can’t/shouldn’t be happy about being women - absolutely not. I am not saying that being a woman is always a bad thing. And (oh how I hate to have to make this disclaimer) I am not saying that all men by default are bad people whom we can collectively blame for all of the above. I just wish that we could use this oh so important day for what it is actually meant for, and give the real issues at hand the attention they so desperately need.
I know I’m probably ruffling a few feathers here, and the funny (or not so funny) thing is that my first reaction was “Oh, but what if my male Facebook friends feel offended by this? What if I make someone feel bad about his actions today? What if people think that I’m being too whiny, too dramatic? What if my opinion is wrong?”. On International Womens Day, I worry about being too opinionated and hurting men’s feelings with an innocuous little Facebook post. Isn’t it ironic?
Someone wished me a “happy International Womens Day" today. And I feel like this someone, like so many others, has completely missed what the point of this day is. I know I’m being a party pooper here, but I need to let this out. And I am NOT going to apologise for it, as I instinctively did before editing this text and removing every sign of apology for making my opinion heard (the original version read: "Sorry for being a party pooper here, but...").
The 8th of March is not a day to congratulate women for being women. Because statistically speaking, being a woman is actually a pretty bad thing. Statistically speaking, it is not something to celebrate.
The 8th of March is not a day for men to feel better about themselves by buying their wife flowers, or wishing their female friends “Happy International Womens Day”, or bringing a pink/purple/flowery cake to the office. And if you do, at LEAST let it be accompanied by a sensible, open-minded conversation about (in)equality.
And the 8th of March is certainly NOT a day for whataboutism, or for men to complain about the fact that no one makes a fuss about International Men’s Day. Seriously, don’t even go there.
The 8th of March is a day for us all to focus on the numerous issues that women face in society today. Whether that be discrimination, rape culture or “simply” society’s constant pressure on us women to be slim but not skinny, curvy but not too curvy, confident but not bossy, to try hard but not too hard, to wear makeup but not too much makeup, to be sexy but not too sexy, to lift but not too heavy, to be a perfect mum while being a perfect wife (and friend, and employee, and…), to make our opinion heard but not too loud, to support each other but not too much… I could go on for a while here, but I won’t.
The 8th of March is a day to think about the strong women, past and present, who have fought for their rights and in one way or other stood up for what is today 49.6% of the world.
The 8th of March is a day to reflect on various women’s situations around the world, and to understand how much work we still have left to do before we are even close to achieving equality.
The 8th of March is a day to think about what you - man or woman - can do to make the world a better place for the 3.7 billion women that live in it. It doesn’t have to be anything huge, but we can all can do something. For example: If you are man living in a household where a woman does most of the planning, cooking, tidying and general running of the household - why not try and change that? Not just today, but every single day from now on. If you are a woman living in a household where you often end up doing most of the planning, cooking, tidying and general running of the household - why not try and change that? Not just today, but every single day from now on. Baby steps.
I am by no means suggesting that women can’t/shouldn’t be happy about being women - absolutely not. I am not saying that being a woman is always a bad thing. And (oh how I hate to have to make this disclaimer) I am not saying that all men by default are bad people whom we can collectively blame for all of the above. I just wish that we could use this oh so important day for what it is actually meant for, and give the real issues at hand the attention they so desperately need.
I know I’m probably ruffling a few feathers here, and the funny (or not so funny) thing is that my first reaction was “Oh, but what if my male Facebook friends feel offended by this? What if I make someone feel bad about his actions today? What if people think that I’m being too whiny, too dramatic? What if my opinion is wrong?”. On International Womens Day, I worry about being too opinionated and hurting men’s feelings with an innocuous little Facebook post. Isn’t it ironic?
