On Mar 8 every year, we celebrate International Women's Day, a day symbolic of the historic journey women around the world have taken to make their lives better. Though we have achieved lot, we still have a long way to go. On this day, we celebrate womanhood and why women empowerment is necessary. When we talk of women empowerment, we mean uplifting women and rendering them a helping hand to break the bondage they have been facing since years. Women don't have to be tall, slim or flawless to fit into the society's stereotypical definition of a 'beautiful woman'. As we try to propagate this idea, we have IIM Lucknow wishing a Happy Women's Day to all the 'beautiful' women through their tweet. Further, they seem to be celebrating the 'elegance' of womanhood.
We need to stop equating the ideas of beauty and elegance with women. Rather, we must start focusing on the idea of equality. The moment a girl child is born, she is placed under the obligation to look 'beautiful' and be 'elegant'. Actor-author Saloni Chopra, in an interview with SheThePeople said, "I think we have raised women around the consideration of our beauty and our looks because we think that’s the only thing that’s valued about us and to an extent, that’s probably true because we are not yet valuing women in an Indian society for their professions or their brain or their education, for example. We are still, in an Indian society, at a place where women feel like they need to pick between being smart and outspoken and just pretty and silent."
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Unfortunately, this is what we are repeatedly injecting into the minds of young women. Let's stop associating womanhood to beauty and elegance. Womanhood is much more than that. In order to empower women, we must provide them with adequate education and ensure their safety. Most importantly, women must be given the rights and opportunities served on a platter to men.
Can we now start valuing a woman for her intellect, success, strength and determination? Can we make International Women's Day a ceremony that draws the society's attention to a woman's struggles, repeated trials to smash patriarchy, the constant fight against the stereotypes and everything else that she has to go through because she is born a woman? To put it simply, being a woman shouldn't have to be synonymous with being beautiful or elegant. A woman's identity should never be reduced to her external appearance only. If you really want to make International Women's Day a memorable one for females, stop the beauty tests right now.
International Women's Day is all inclusive
No, International Women's Day doesn't celebrate only the "elegance" of womanhood. It celebrates the fighters, the survivors, the strugglers, women who are weak, women who are strong, the ones who are vulnerable, the ones dealing with their own demons....and the list goes on. Above all, International Women's Day celebrates the uniqueness and diversity of women. Let us not define womanhood in a word or two and let us break the stereotypes holding women back from being themselves.
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