March 8th is celebrated as International Women’s Day. Started sometime around the early 1900 this day has made a mark of significance to impact globally a day of celebrating and reflecting upon the strides that women have taken in their battle towards gender parity.
We have come a long way since the time when society and systems would treat women as the weaker sex. There are many more women in politics now then the early 1900’s. More women educate, travel, have a career and manage a family. More women are seen in the board rooms, sports that were earlier male dominated, but does this imply gender parity?
No doubt, the journey has begun, but for many women, discrimination based on gender is very much a reality. Gender inequality exists more than we would want to accept. Many women struggle with this fact everyday of their life. A reality that does not allow them to enjoy equal rights. A realty in which they constantly face abuse only because they are born as women. Being born a women for them is seen as a weakness, rather than a strength.
It is not surprising thus that women empowerment tries to shy away from femininity. Femininity is considered as a behavior trait for the weak and so women who are trying to assert their gender are in constant battle, trying hard to pursue their strength and win their way through this weakness. Everyday becomes a struggle to assert their right of equality, their need to be smart, strong and independent. We downplay our needs of being beautiful, nurturing and caring, in our bid towards gender parity.
It’s important that we begin to redefine what it means to be a woman in today's world. The more opportunities that women have today, the more self-reliant and self-sufficient they become, the more questions they need to ask what it truly means to be an empowered women.
Women should not shy away from their journey to discover their passion and contribute in ways that feel meaningful for them. I believe we are past the stage where a woman has to be a man to be successful.
Femininity should not be misconstrued as an opposite reaction to patriarchal masculinity.
What is femininity? While the defining characteristics of femininity are not universal they are made up of a set of attributes, behaviors, and roles generally associated with girls and women. Behaviors such as gentleness, empathy, sensitivity, caring, sweetness, compassion, tolerance, nurturance, deference and beauty are considered feminine than masculine.
Masculinity on the other hand has to do with the roles that are generally associated with boys and men. The traits include courage, independence and assertiveness. An overemphasis on these traits and associated with disregard for consequences and responsibility is seen as machismo.
There has been a debate whether both femininity and masculinity are socially-defined and or biologically-created factors because both men and women exhibit these traits if given the opportunities to do so. People who exhibit a combination of both these traits are considered androgynous. A healthy mix of being able to get in touch with our feminine and masculine side as and when the need demands.
Gender parity should begin with such awareness. Young women and men should be encouraged to be who they want to be without defining femininity and masculinity and judging people only because of their gender. Such lessons begin young at home. Children watch their role models behave in ways that shall define their gender expression.
Gender expression is a huge weight we carry with us because we are either trying to fit in or trying to rebel. Young boys learn early in life that they should not be emotional, or sweet and gentle. Young girls learn very young that they should not be assertive and independent. This is when labeling begins. All our life we let these labels rule us for the fear that we might not fit in. we let others judge us and we in turn judge others.
One of the greater defaulters of maximizing our true potential is this battle we rage within ourselves. Women empowerment is not so much a battle for fighting equal rights as it has to do with our true expressions of being human. This battle belongs to the entire human race. As long as we shy away from acknowledging our entirety we are always going to face inequality. Imagine a world where gender expressions are in balance with each other. We would not need to waste energy in either oppressing others or suppressing our own needs. The ying and yang balance. The anima and animus in tune with each other, dancing a perfect melody.
Let this Women’s day be about getting in touch with your femininity and celebrating it with no biases. It does not matter what gender you belong to, as long as you let the creative forces allow you to be gentler, more in touch with your emotions, express more love, be nurturing and caring, be dependable. I urge both men and women to be proud of the traits that make us more human, more alive and more connected. A feminine expression of human kind.
