This whole month of March is Women’s Month, and tomorrow, March 8, will be International Women’s Day.
It has been a tradition to use the occasion to highlight the contributions of women to society, despite the barriers and hurdles put up to limit them. And indeed we have seen many women succeed in the world of government, business, and other sectors. Many of them have proven themselves to be capable, inspiring leaders.
But there remains a lot of work ahead.
Those who have succeeded in breaking barriers could be seen as exceptions, not the rule. They had advantages to begin with – privilege, education, even personality. They did not have to struggle against age-old mindsets that have imprisoned and limited women in many places.
These mindsets range from being perceived as not good enough for any task, to being the one who always has to make sacrifices and give way to males, to being too emotional or indecisive or distracted. In this day and age, it still happens that no matter how much competence has been exhibited by a woman, her achievements are minimized or dismissed. When she asserts herself she is loud. And when she betrays emotion she is unhinged.
Worse, women from abusive households do not always know they have the choice to remove themselves from their situation, believing that it is a virtue to endure constant suffering, insults and even violence.
We can best commemorate this occasion and celebrate women in a concrete way by always checking our biases and making sure that our words and actions are enlightened and informed – not governed by stereotypes, discrimination, or plain ignorance.