International Women’s Day 2019 | Let’s get straight to the facts

The inaugural women’s day occurred on 19th March 1911. The March 19 date was chosen because it commemorated the day that the Prussian king promised to introduce votes for women in 1848. The promise gave hope for equality but it was a promise that he failed to keep. The International Women’s Day date was moved to March 8 in 1913. A little less than 2 centuries have passed since the Prussian King broke his promise of equal rights for women but promises are still being broken when it comes to equality for women. Without a doubt, much progress has been made to protect and promote women’s rights in recent times. However, nowhere in the world can women claim to have all the same rights and opportunities as men, according to the UN. The majority of 1.3 billion absolute poor of the world are women. On average, women receive between 30 and 40 per cent less pay than men earn for the same work. Women also continue to be victims of violence, with rape and domestic violence listed as significant causes of disability and death among women worldwide.

International Women’s Day, is a public holiday in some countries such as Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Russia, Ukraine. For one day the whole world is busy celebrating women’s day, sharing quotes on social media, uploading stories here and there but the very next day they treat women as nothing.

In June 2018, Thomson Reuters Foundation — the philanthropic arm of Reuters media company – released a study that ranked India as the most dangerous place for a female because of its high incidences of sexual violence, lack of access to justice in rape cases, child marriage, female feticide and human trafficking. India outranked countries such as Syria and Afghanistan, second and third, that are currently at war, between 2007 and 2016, there were four cases of rape every hour. There are 63 million “missing” women in the country because of sex-selective abortion, as well as 21 million unwanted girls. Things changed drastically since ‘Beti Padhao, Beti Bachao’ was implemented but still lots to do towards it.

Feminism has been singularly responsible for redressing these deeply sexist social injustices. This is an undeniable and morally reprehensible truth that women have faced countless brutal forms of institutionalized discrimination since time immemorial and in all sorts of cultural settings.
But some forms of feminism have been harmful in that they have built an ideological foundation that is anti-male. Apparently, misogyny is reprehensible and evil but misandry is virtuous and laudable. This extreme form of feminism refers to, women being superior. This notion is harmful not only for society but women also, because women are not superior, or inferior, nor do they need a particular day to be remembered. But like all humans, like other genders, they need to be recognised for the hard work they do. They need rights and should be allowed to exercise them without any prejudice, bias. Also, they need to be credited for their noteworthy achievements and should be allowed to falter, because they, like all others, know how to stand again. There are numerous examples where women showed outstanding courage and self-belief and stood lonely for themselves, Padma Shri Dr Arunima Sinha is one one of them, she is the first female amputee to scale Mount Everest and Mount Vinson. The former national volleyball and football player, boarded the Padmavati Express train at Lucknow for Delhi on 12 April 2011, to take an examination to join the CISF. She was pushed out of a general coach of the train by robbers wanting to snatch her bag and gold chain. Immediately, as she fell on the railway track, another train on a parallel track crushed her leg below the knee. She was rushed to the hospital with serious leg and pelvic injuries and lost her leg after doctors amputated it to save her life. Arunima proved, a woman can overcome from any circumstances even as worst as she faced on her own.
Her aim was to climb all the continents’ highest peaks and hoist the national flag of India. She has already done six peaks by 2014: Everest in Asia, Kilimanjaro in Africa, Elbrus in Europe, Kosciuszko in Australia, Aconcagua in Argentina and Carstensz Pyramid (Puncak Jaya) in Indonesia. She completed her final summit of Mount Vinson in Antarctica on 4 January 2019.

“A woman is like a tea bag- you never know how strong she is until she gets in hot water”

“A woman is like a tea bag- you never know how strong she is until she gets in hot water” well said by Eleanor Roosevelt, the longest serving first lady of the USA and Dr Arunima Sinha is living proof of that. Once Hillary Clinton said that “Nation that invests in women’s employment, health and education are just more likely to have better outcomes. Their children will be healthier and better educated. So this is not just the right thing to do for us to hold up these women, to support them, to encourage their involvement; this is a strategic imperative“. Considering the very reason Kailasha Foundation – Fun & Learn Portal dedicated the first edition of its e-magazine to women and issues related to them. It talks about periods and sanitary napkins. The e-magazine was named The Power Of Wings, released this year on the 15th of January. To awaken the people, it is the women who must be awakened. Once she is on the move, the family moves, the village moves, and finally, the nation moves.

images' source: picsbud.com, Google

Acknowledgements: Lisa, Vaishnavi, Ankita, Tanushree, Riya, Snigdha, Shivani also contributed to this article.

Kailasha Online Learning LLP

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn for regular updates.