International Women's Day- 8th March

Another year and just another day, which goes unnoticed in so many of our lives. And for this I am rather happy. What disappoints me is that we still need an International Woman's Day! More than a hundred years and are we seriously fighting for the same cause- Gender Equality?? This morning when I was driving to work, I saw posters all over the billboards defining the place of women in society- and believe me all I had in my mind was when this stupid day will finish.This is the very cause of not acheiving equality for those who have not. Whats the drama about Woman's lib? Specially in a country where I see no gender discrimination? We have been liberated- eons ago- and those who have not (I'm sorry to say and this may sound rather scornful) will never be liberated because they choose not to be. They choose to be part of a system that has ceased to exist. They choose to live under the shadow of sympathy, and if thats a personal choice, I DO NOT think we need a special day in the year to acknowledge their situation or the lack of it. Women in developed countries are fighting for a different casue today- the basis of their arguments to me seems futile waste of energy. In developed nations this is not a fight for gender survival, but a fight for superiority and I do not acknowledge that man or woman is superior over the other.We can have 10 days a year dedicated to awareness about Breast Cancer in developed countries- because those women are fighters, they do not mope about their situation and the disease can be dealt with.

Women's Day should be about Women like Mukhtar Mai- who have fought the system in their countries and are still fighting. It should applaud the women who have survived the tribulations of their gender, in countires where a gender bias exists, not women who have winged about their state. There is no need for awareness that women are disrespected in some parts of the world- We all know that- Thank you very much! But there is a constant need to fix the problem and unfortunately, awareness about a problem internationally does not fix it. To fix it, you have to be part of the system, a system that none of us are a part of. And I don't want to sound hypocriticial when I say that women are suffering in Taliban- because there is nothing in my power I can do to change it- so to raise awareness and leave the world feeling sorry for those women is nothing short of mockery of their current state- and I am sorry but I choose NOT to be a part of this hypocrisy.

Welcome to the 21st Century. Women are liberated in most parts of the world. Where they are not, it has more to do with cultural and religious differences which lead to gender inequality. We well and truly need to fix these problems but awareness in countries 10000 miles away will not fix the problem. I wonder if Afghanistan and Iraq had posters about International Women's Day? Did those women even acknowledge their own problems or just go with the system? They'll work it out, I'm sure, because there is honestly no other choice around it. And they will survive and thats when I'll celebrate Women's Day- because thats when the women who need liberation will be liberated. Not you and me- we are doing just fine...