A Little Peek Into My Love/Hate Relationship with International Womens Day

As another International Women's Day rolls around on 8th March 2023, I am feeling my Gemini twin tendencies come to the fore.

Yes, I have complicated and mixed feelings about International Women's Day every year. These contradictory feelings of mine have grown year on year. Let me offer you a peek into my Gemini mind so you can understand my love/hate relationship with IWD.

5 Reasons I Love IWD

I love IWD because

1. It helps people stop and learn about where we are now for women's rights, across the globe, and to have important conversations about women from different backgrounds or geographies who aren't as well off.
2. It provides a platform for honouring the women who smoothed the pathway for us. We have a lot to thank the pioneers for including the right to own property, take out a bank loan (have a bank account!), be able to vote and of course, have bodily autonomy.
3. It provides an opportunity to unashamedly celebrate the accomplishments of women, both famous and non-famous. I am so fortunate to have been born into a family of strong, independent women and have had an upbringing where I knew being a woman should not be a disadvantage.
4. It helps me and others, to stop and reflect on how far we have come for women rights across the world, but to also rekindle the fire in the belly to be the change we want to see in the world.
5. I get to talk to lots and lots of people in March every year ... it's a big month for a gender equality consultant like me and talking with people who are willing to listen to learn is a joyous part of my role.

5 Reasons I Hate IWD

OK, hate is a strong word. But here is the flipside of what I love about IWD.

1. IWD serves as a reminder of how far we still have to go for women’s rights. Despite progress in my lifetime, women are seeing their basic human rights eroded.  Women in some regions have less bodily autonomy, less access to education and less access to social and economic empowerment.
2. IWD creates virtue signalling. You’ll see the virtue signalling purple washing occur on the 8th March. The companies and organisations that will put out flashy ads and social media posts to mark the occasion. These same companies do little on the other 364 days of the year for women.  Look out for the  Gender Pay Gap Bot on Twitter. It rightly caused quite a stir in 2022.
3. IWD is exclusive. Sadly, IWD is still a fabulous day for white feminism.   Women from marginalized communities, such as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island women, Women of Colour, trans women, and disabled women, feel that their experiences and struggles with racialised sexism are not acknowledged or effectively represented on this day. This can make the day feel more like a celebration of the achievements of a narrow group of privileged women, rather than a celebration of all women.
4. IWD is not accessible. Many women are locked out of the celebrations and events that take place on the 8th March. IWD breakfasts are common – ummm hello? That is the WORST time of day for many women. After all, women are still responsible for 75% of the unpaid work in the world. Many of the events are expensive too. I am glad to see more community events, but I would like for-profit event organisers to consider offering more equity places.
5. Whataboutism Abounds on IWD. Whataboutism is where an individual or group responds to an accusation or criticism by deflecting attention to another issue or group, often one that is perceived as worse. It is often used as a tactic to avoid taking responsibility for their own actions or to create false equivalences. So I gird my loins, every year, for the usual comments like “when is international men’s day?” I usually suggest they watch this TED Talk by Michael Kimmel.

Complicated and Complex is OK

Life is messy and is not binary. So for me, I have reconciled that whilst some elements of International Women's Day make me want to do a massive eye roll, it is also a day to stop and reflect on the accomplishments of women and the progress towards gender equality.  

But let’s not sugar coat things here. Major challenges still exist, across the world, for women. So IWD must be the day that we both celebrate AND make a commitment to doing the work to create a more equal and just world for all women.  

I'd love to hear your thoughts about IWD and especially the innovative and inclusive ways you're choosing to commemorate it this year.

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