Women's Day Reduced to Mere Ritual

[Guest guest]

HYDERABAD (March 8, 2005): Pink flowers, mush-oozing greeting cards

and "hpy womenz day" SMS's. Well, if one looks around the busy

streets of the city on Tuesday morning, at least one of these would

catch the eye. All these are to mark International Women's Day

celebrations.

 

"But, celebrating what?" questions entrepreneur K Rama Devi. Have

there been any achievements with regard to women's issues to

celebrate the day, she asks.

 

Union minister of state for health and family welfare Panabaka

Lakshmi says it is important to celebrate the day. Women get

together on this day, share views and come together in a group. This

gives them a position of strength. But many others disagree.

 

Noted singer Shubha Mudgal wonders: "Why honour us on one day. Every

day is woman's day." She says it is not really a matter of pride for

women to be given recognition on a single day of the year.

 

Women The Times of India spoke to said that seminars and workshops

held on this day are all fine, but where are they leading to? "It is

so ritualistic," sighs additional commissioner police (traffic)

Tejdeep Kaur Menon. Having turned down umpteen invitations from

across the city to address people on the occasion of International

Women's Day, Menon, like many other women, is questioning the reason

for this celebration.

 

"Injustices against women continue. We have done very little to

tackle crime against women," she says. In fact, women say they do

not want to be treated as 'special' but only as an equal. For

example, women entrepreneurs seeking loans from banks are asked to

get guarantees from their husbands or fathers. It is not so for men

seeking similar loans.

 

At a recent gathering of college students Rama Devi, who is

president, Association of Lady Entrepreneurs of Andhra Pradesh,

asked young girls whether they were in favour of women's reservation

and the answer was a no. "I asked if they were willing to take a job

which was offered to them because of being a woman and not on merit,

and the answer was a unanimous 'no'," she says.

 

There is concern about so little change in the status of women. "And

let us not go by the increasing numbers of women in the work force.

The infant girl mortality rate is a frightening fact," Menon says.

She adds that little has been done to tackle crime against

women. "Rape as a crime is perhaps still considered the same as pick-

pocketing." It is important to showcase role models for hundreds of

other women to emulate (which is done on a day like this). But,

women add, it should also be done across the year.

 

SOURCE: The Times of India. TIMES NEWS NETWORK [TUESDAY, MARCH 08,

2005 01:20:56 AM]

 

URL: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1044157.cms