Trivialising Women’s Day
ICOME from a family where the father worked and the mother stayed at home. In fact the same is correct for both my paternal and maternal grandparents. The men went out into the world to work and the women took care of them and the children. I really have no idea how this arrangement came to be but it probably dates back to the days when people lived in caves and the man was the hunter and gatherer.
In fact, women were crucial for the survival of the species and their ability to bear children became their defining characteristic. Fertility was so crucial that these ancient people created a small wooden sculpture called the Venus of Willendorf that the man could hold in the palm of his hands, presumably as he went out hunting and gathering.
The sculpture accentuated the female’s breasts and thighs but showed her without feet or hands. After all, hands and feet were unimportant to fertility.
It seems that this attitude had survived over time and became entrenched in societies around the world. Women have had a torrid time and have been discriminated against by history and society.
Business would like us to buy the idea that women are there to be pampered and taken care of. Men, it seems, find women in bikinis hard to resist and would only buy tyres if they have such a woman draped over them.
Back in the day, it was unusual for men to cook, clean or take care of children. But, in just one generation from my parents, the whole apple cart was overturned. Today, it is commonplace for both the parents to be working full time jobs. In fact, things have changed so much that many women are the main breadwinners in some families. And it did not stop there.
The prime minister of New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern, recently had a baby girl and her partner, Clarke Gayford, is now the house husband taking care of the little girl. The long-established convenient roles have been well and truly challenged. The whole definition of a family structure has been fundamentally changed.
So why do we still celebrate or commemorate Women’s Day? Is there still a need for it after all these changes to society? Surely we need to reassess why such a day is observed around the world before we decide? I have heard it said that women have just one day in the year but men have the rest. It seems unfair.
The first Women’s Day was instituted in 1909 in the US, to protest about working conditions for women. In 1911, International Women’s Day was marked on March 19 to demand the right to work, to hold public office, to vocational training and end of discrimination in the workplace.
Between 1913 and 1917, the women’s movement protested the war and, in Russia, the protests of the women led to the abdication of the czar.
South Africa’s Women’s Day is marked on August 9 to commemorate the march of over 20 000 women to Pretoria in 1956, to protest the carrying of the “pass” by women. This march was led by Lilian Ngoyi, Helen Joseph, Rahima Moosa and Sophia Williams. These brave women were marching to the Union Buildings to confront the apartheid government.
I can absolutely relate to the celebration and commemoration of the lives of these brave women but that’s not what we do on Women’s Day. It seems that these brave women are all but forgotten. Perhaps we made a grave mistake to call this Women’s Day? And, perhaps we made the same mistake with Youth Day, Freedom Day and Reconciliation Day.
I mean, do we actually appreciate the sacrifices of those young school children on June 16 in Soweto? Do we really believe that South Africans became free when we voted for the first time and do we know the relevance of the Day of Reconciliation? Well, the Day of Reconciliation actually commemorates the defeat of the Zulus at Blood River and the formation of MK!
The logic of what that has to do with reconciliation escapes me!
Our government complains that the youth do not know their history but glosses over history in the most generalising way. Perhaps we should rename these “Days” more appropriately? I see nothing wrong with referring to them as they appear in history: Soweto Day, Sharpeville Day, Women’s March Day and Voting Day.
Let’s be honest about it. We look forward to these “Days” as an opportunity to relax and unwind. The fact is there are so many Women’s Day specials advertised all over the media, you can eat out because most of the restaurants are offering Women’s Day specials and, if you don’t like that, you can treat yourself to a spa treatment or even get a great discount on airline tickets and travel to Cape Town where you can treat yourself to a girl’s night out, a night of Tomfoolery at Party Republica, experience the Night of the Queens while chomping on African cuisine, or, laugh through an all women line-up at the Cape Town Comedy Club.
Surely, this cannot be what Women’s Day is all about? It cannot be reduced to “treating the special woman in your life” to a day of pampering!
Something is horribly wrong when the protests of women for freedom from discrimination, equality in the workplace and ending war are translated into a yoga class or a fragrance workshop?
Can you imagine Lilian Ngoyi checking that her hair extensions were in place, Helen Joseph making sure she had a big breakfast at the Women’s Day buffet, Rahima Moosa thinking about going to the Comedy Club or Sophia Williams agonising about her spa treatment before they marched to Pretoria? Of course not!
Wouldn’t it be something if women started protesting how the media, business and even our government trivialise their fight to be treated fairly and with respect? I mean, how does one explain to young girls that they have amazing role models from whom they can draw inspiration? How would they remember these brave women when they are being massaged into being brainless and clueless?
But what do I know? I’m just a man. I suppose such are the Days of our Lives!