Saturday 8 March 2014

International Women's Day - Ho Hum



Today will be the day for every media outlet to pop up with some pleasant words about the worth of women and point out how either women's lots have improved or declined over the last little while or throughout history. And the focus will be thought provoking and interesting and with any luck at all it might actually encourage one or two young women to stand up for themselves.

The big problem that I see in all this is similar to Mothers' day and Fathers' day. It is ridiculous to use up a year's attention in ONE day. Showering all your love on a parent for oh lets say at a push 8 hours once a year, is not the idea at all. And a world that lines up Hallmark to allow this to happen is more than a little sad, but that is the way of our world. My Girl loves me All year not just on Mother's day and that's the way it aught to be.

International Women's Day is an excuse for the world to forget about women's issues for 364 days because on this ONE special special day they are discussed. This I fear is more than a little self defeating.

So today we will no doubt see sanctimonious politicians spruiking about the wonders of women and tomorrow they can all go back to ignoring us, filling their front benches with beards and making life very difficult for women rearing the hopes of tomorrow. Today we will see media barons pontificate proudly about the women in their employ and tomorrow they can continue to plaster their pages with pics of headless boobed bodies. Today a man might curtail that 'friendly slap' but tomorrow he will have forgotten all that tripe as he swings again. The women living in poverty all around the globe might be spotlighted today only to be forgotten tomorrow.

I reckon it is passed time that women stand up for themselves 365 days a year, and stop waiting for someone else to lead the charge. If women expected more they would have more. The old adage, 'You get what you settle for' could not be more true for women.

Quotas and other government legislation will not improve the lot of women, we need to do this ourselves, as individuals. We need to stop all the infighting and listening to the media about what we should look like and how we should behave. We need to just get out there and mow our own path.

If our daughters sit around and WAIT for the next International Women's Day to cure all their ills they will be a long time dead.

Instead of marching or protesting or petitioning for change, I reckon it is time we encouraged our daughters themselves, to be the vehicles of change. If they want something they should go out and get it, they should not sit idly by waiting for someone to consider them worthy.

So Mothers' Day, Fathers' Day and Valentines' Day,  all those bloody 'Days', be buggered, International Women's Day included. Yeh lets get rid of 'em all and as individuals declare what is important, and then strive to achieve it.

Get rid off 'em all, except of course birthdays cos I do love a pressie and a bit of cake on my B.Day.

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