It was in 1970 that Dr. Edgar Berman, physician to the 38th Vice President of the United States, Hubert Humphrey, told the Committee of National Priorities of the Democratic Party that women were unfit for leadership because of “raging hormonal imbalances”. Among the furious women who reacted to this declaration was Dr. Estelle Ramey, a professor of physiology and biophysics at Georgetown University, who wrote a letter to the leaders of Democratic Party asking them to fire Dr. Berman from the committee.
Her efforts ended up in a nationally televised debate with Dr. Berman, which established her name as an authentic leader contradicting Dr. Berman’s claim instantly in front of a live audience.
The world just celebrated “International Women’s Day” on March 8 under the theme “Choose to Challenge” with the expectation of propagating the message “a challenged world is an alert world and from challenge comes change”. There were numerous celebrations in Sri Lanka also, some at ministries and other government institutions, universities and NGOs. Most, if not all, of these events were designed to showcase women’s achievements despite all the constraints and to raise awareness about the hardships and all the discriminatory practices of today’s society.
Some were aimed at teaching young girls and women about their rights and what they should do if they feel that any of their rights were violated. Those are the most common themes in such celebrations all over the world and they certainly create a significant impact on the society. All those efforts should be highly appreciated.
Main pillars
It probably would have been better if some of those events focused on the women’s contribution to the country’s economy in general and whether the main contributors are getting their due recognition and/or treated as they should have been treated. While the contribution of each and every citizen is important, those of women who send money back from other countries, while working as housemaids, those working in the apparel sector, estate workers and the family farmer should have been highlighted and admired much more, not just by words but by deed as well. The apparel industry is the number one exporter in the country and they would not have survived if not for the dedication of all the women employees who are the backbone of the industry.
We, as a nation, should be ashamed to say that our number one foreign exchange earner is the group of domestic helpers working in the Middle-Eastern countries. They are our mothers, daughters and in some cases even grandmothers who are going through all the hardships, including physical and sexual assaults, some even ending with death, in these foreign lands that are known to have no respect even for their own women.
Therefore, while we celebrate the high achieving females such as the first female DIG of Police, singers, actors, doctors, engineers, professors, judges, athletes and business women of the country we should not forget the fact that one of the main supporters of those achievements is the economic condition of the country and the main pillars holding that economy up are the domestic aids in the Middle-East, employees in the apparel industry, the estate workers and the farmers.
Challenge
Most of us are aware of the ‘International Women’s Day’, ‘Father’s Day’, ‘Mother’s Day’, ‘Children’s Day / Elders’ Day’ and even ‘Valentine’s Day’ now in Sri Lanka but not so much about the ‘International Girls’ Day’ (October 11), ‘International Men’s Day’ (November 19) and ‘International Boys’ Day’ (May 16). It may be worthwhile to think about the reasons why the celebrations of ‘International Men’s Day’ and ‘International Boys’ Day’ are not as prominent in the world calendar and in the media as the Women’s Day and/or the Girls’ Day. Perhaps men and the boys feel that there is nothing much to celebrate because they didn’t have to struggle or fight for their rights or their achievements since the social norms were already designed for them to reach those heights. May be there is not much money to make in the business world by promoting those days compared to Women’s Day, Girls’ day or the Valentine’s Day. It probably is the time to start celebrating Men’s Day and Boys’ Day and think about what we can celebrate. If our mothers, sisters and daughters are still struggling to win their rights, get equal pay for the same jobs that we do and/or get the promotions that they deserve then, who are they struggling against?
They are struggling against men and the boys. That is why Dr. Ramey said that “Women’s chains are forged by men, not by anatomy”. Therefore, this year’s theme for the Women’s Day: “Choose to Challenge; a challenged world is an alert world and from challenge comes change” perhaps means that the male domination should be challenged. It would even be better if we can find out how a newborn baby boy becomes an adult male who could discriminate against women while revering his own mother as the most important woman in the world.
As the history shows, International Women’s Day celebrations started in 1914 as a consequence of the women’s movement started in 1908 in New York City. Though there have been remarkable achievements such as voting rights for women and shorter working hours in some places the world has a long way to go in recognising the negative effects of male domination. Therefore, it may not be a bad idea to start focusing on boys and men and do everything we can to make the boys understand the value of respecting girls and giving them the equal treatment in terms of their rights yet treat them even better than other boys because these girls are going to be mothers in just a few more years.
Perhaps, if we can make the man understand that every other mother, sister or daughter is like his own and treat them the way he would treat his own then, the women in the world will not have anything to challenge or fight against except their own kind.
Boys, girls, men and women can celebrate their achievements on days of their choices and make all the struggles, rallies, protests and marches on the Women’s Day a thing of the past.
The writer has served in higher education sector as an academic over twenty years in the USA and fourteen years in Sri Lanka and he can be contacted at [email protected]