Stepping out of "Another" Women's Day

The idea of a women's day bugs me. No, I am not a male chauvinist. I like to think i am quite the opposite. But a day to celebrate womanhood? No sir, i am quite against it.

The day is just another cog in the big but lame machine that has been labelled "Women Empowerment". Its one of those that takes in a lot of fuel and input and gives out crap. It is preposterous. A propaganda of sorts. How else would you justify celebrating the better half of the population for just a day? Why do the world don't need a men's day? Isn't it because pretty much every day is just that? While we celebrate a day for the ladies, abhorrent and medeviel opinions about them is prevalent pretty much everywhere. A women gets raped, molested and assaulted, and blamed upon all in one breath. If the idea of women empowerment is not a shared realisation but a forced opinion among the majority of the population then how effective is a women's day?

But ofcourse much has been done for the women. Isn't it? They are indeed in a situation to better their conditions, right? All those powerful iconic women in the society, surely women's empowerment is a well acheved reality?

Ofcourse, the feminist revolution is a major force in modern times without any exception. Even in a massive developing country like ours it’s a veritable situation. The stance of women is changing, faster and surer, with every passing day. But is empowerment of women as practical as a much shadowy equalization of men and women? Can a modern and more “capable” woman have it all?

The women role in the society was never lesser to that of men. Looking after the family and household is as integral to the society as all the “man’s work”. Though that stance of women as the household caretaker has hardly changed, much of the hard boundary of those “man’s work” has been brought down in the name of women empowerment. And thus the role model woman who is both a successful CEO to a MNC and a loving mother is nothing short of a super-human.

Education being readily available, policies and exception worth crores, reservations in all influential spheres has put up women to stand equally beside men in all spheres. But isn’t she bent over herself? The burden of expectations on her has nothing but increased. Social stigmas ask them to be inhumanly versatile. And while a man would be deemed successful by his credibility in his work field, a woman has to keep up with her dual life to be revered as same. And any deviation from that would spark up a torrent of remarks about how her parenting or commitment toward her work was somehow substandard. How much delusional could a idea be?

After all this who else to blame than the woman herself to not be able to climb the success ladder as fast a man, to be steadfast to her commitments to her family, to be the real “empowered” woman (while staying slim and beautiful to boot). So at the end of the day, the women who were to really have it all, end up with much less, making compromises here and there which the men were far less likely to have to make. Where “empowered” women do actually stands then?

And still the women with the feminist philosophy struggle, while their personal and professional duties clash relentlessly, just to keep the flame going for the future generations. After all, the world cannot just go back to all out Jacobin patriarchy. The “equality” must stay the norm of the society.

The problem is the definition of “equality” which is beaten crooked by a still inherent male dominated society. The term is disguised to delude legions of feminist to the “empowerment” of its choice and comfort. So while women “can have it all”, it’s rather impossible with India’s current economy and social structure.

The great rift between the men and women has closed. But a new “gender gap” is being opened- one which is not measured in success or wages but in general well-being. There is no easy solution to it until the real meaning of gender equality is excavated. The stereotypes have to be done away with, freeing up woman to make an informed and unbiased choice about her life- and for real. The responsibilities need to be equally shared in every sphere between men and women. That will be a society that will work for the women. That will be a truly equal and “empowered” society.

Maybe then we may celebrate both a women's day and a men's day... or better a Human's day.