Why celebrate Women’s Month?
Women’s Month allows us to check what we have done to honor our mothers, sisters, and daughters.
They say that if there were no celebrations for holidays like Christmas and observance of seasons like Lent, the year would just flow into the next without milestones. Think about it. If each month just rolled into the next and each yearend just rolled into the next year, life would indeed be boring. There would be no breaks, no vacations, no holidays and no meaning. So that explains celebrations and the observance of religious holidays, too.
But what about Women’s Month? I heard some wisecrack ask when “Men’s Month” is. Women’s Month is celebrated internationally in March to make us pause and think about issues, not holidays. To think about what we can do to alleviate millions of women from social issues like trafficking and domestic abuse. To look into ourselves and check what we have done to honor our mothers, sisters, and daughters. It’s like a Mother’s Day only bigger, wider, and longer. And it’s a Mother’s Day with a purpose more than commercial. Think how Hallmark Cards and the like benefit from Valentine’s Day and Christmas. Think about how hotels and restaurants benefit from packed rooms during Mother’s Day or Father’s Day. And we oblige.
For reasons other than commercial ones, Women’s Month makes us think of issues we can all take part in — to be part of solutions. Here are some ideas:
1Think
about gender diversity in your company. Whether government or private, diversity (men and women in one place, one company) plays a big part in profitability for businesses. The exchange of ideas from both genders makes for an enriched discussion simply because some minds think linear and some minds do not.
2Have
a gender advocacy statement. Give it to your CEO and managers or People department to think of one. Adopt a gender policy statement. Government has it all provided in the Magna Carta for Women signed many years ago. Private companies are asked to make one for compliance if and when they borrow or are donees of multilaterals.
3Honor
your women leaders. Many women do the dirty work behind the scenes (the Executive assistants, the little presidents, etc.) and do the CSW or Complete Staff Work. This is because women do the details well, naturally. And women can multitask (this comes from the prehistoric biological roles of mothers who have to cook and watch the baby at the same time). Men are focused on single things, like hunt for food, while women multitask at home.
4Encourage
your daughters to go into STEAM careers. Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math (STEAM) are careers that allow women to partake of 30% more in income rather than non- STEAM careers (the default careers or stereotypical jobs for women).
5Pay
women equally, if not higher. In many countries, there is a gender pay gap where women and men get different sal- ary rates for the same job description. Check your salary scales. Will you hire Joe and Jane for the same amount if you knew their gender? Believe it or not, there is a gender pay gap.
Want to learn more? Take part in a Women’s Month activity. Every well-meaning company has one. And every woman-led NGO or CSO has one. Ours is the Women in Tech event called “S.T.E.A.M. Ahead in ASEAN” — Women in Tech happening at Microtel by Wyndham in MOA, Pasay City (an ASEAN@50 accredited hotel) on March 16-17. Download our app: ASEAN Women Steam Ahead from the app store or Playstore. A woman developed the App and she will be one of the speakers, too. Get to know more young techies and start-ups as well as enablers for women in technology and innovation.
See you there! Pre-registration is necessary. E-mail us at admin@ womenbiz.ph or log on to www. womenbiz. phorg. and www.awenasean.
The article reflects the personal opinion of the author and does not reflect the official stand of the Management Association of the Philippines or the MAP.