| Image Credit: www.credopanda.com |
"Achieving
gender equality and empowering women and girls is the unfinished business of
our time, and the greatest human rights challenge in our world." — UN
Secretary-General, António Guterres.
Hello!
Today
is International Women's Day. International Women’s Day is a time to reflect on
progress made, to call for change and to celebrate acts of courage and
determination by ordinary women who have played an extraordinary role in the
history of their countries and communities.
Last year
the campaign theme is #BeBoldForChange.
This year the theme is on #PressForProgress and the focus is on Gender Parity.
It is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political
achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating
gender parity. No one government, NGO, charity, corporation, academic
institution, women's network or media hub is solely responsible for
International Women's Day.
"The
story of women's struggle for equality belongs to no single feminist nor to any
one organization but to the collective efforts of all who care about human
rights," says world-renowned feminist, journalist and social and political
activist Gloria Steinem. Now there have been a whole lot of hue and cry about #wifenotcook and #husbandnotatm jisienu
ike. I am befuddled to think that this shallow feminist ideology can sprout
from Society. I am indeed concerned about the growing number of *online
feminists* who don't even have the slightest clue of what feminism is all
about.
The ten
International Women's Day values are: Justice,
Dignity, Hope, Equality, Collaboration, Tenacity, Appreciation, Respect,
Empathy, Forgiveness When women
forget that they are co-operators, collaborators, companions and not
competitors or contenders then the concept of being feminine and indeed being a
womanist becomes even more Understanding.
I love and
respect in fact I adore women because without them, I doubt if I would have
attained some heights. I have been blessed with amazing women who have shared
their understanding of the concept of *"Help Meet"* with me. Today I
Celebrate them!
| Image Credit: www.festwish.com |
Being Bold
for change and Pressing for Progress implies understanding the complexities of
what makes you a woman. It is imperative that many of our young ladies
understand what it means to be a woman. We grew up knowing that women are natural
caregivers, managers and they provide solid foundation so right from a tender
age, they deserve a level playing ground.
Today, I am
yielding my space to Ezinne Arua. She shares goes down memory lane and shares
with us a fine experience.
Enjoy!
OjisiEmezie
Peace over
Drama. To every woman who makes the world peaceful what could we do without
you. To those who add Drama, You still spice up our lives. To the
men we are grateful to life's Drama and Peace . – Charles Umeh
I went to an all-girls
secondary school. It was a Community of young girls who were loved and valued
enough by their parents and were given the opportunity to strive, to horn their
potentials and to make the most of them. There, I saw young girls show
intelligence, aspire, dream, work hard, strive, thrive and shine without being
placed at par with boys. I consider this “lack of equation” a sheer act of
parity.
We were raised
to be young girls who were striving to succeed, not to like boys, but striving
in our own rights and aspiration. We were given opportunities, not equal
opportunities (not unequal opportunities either). And we made the most of it.
Today, many of
us have recorded and achieved “disgendered” successes. We have become things
anybody can be, irrespective of whether or not you are a born or girl. That is sheer parity.
Maybe I was born
into a circle that girls do not have to strive to be accorded equal
opportunities. But I am not blinded to the reality that there is whole world of
young girls who do not know that they (too) have the right and ability to dream
and to attain great heights. I know there exist girls who are made to believe
that the most of their attainment in life will be to get married (with or
without their consent) and to bear children.
This 2018
International Women’s Day is a day to celebrate the successes of women who have
reached pinnacles, encourage the strive of those still climbing the ladder, and
to uplift those at the base who are yet to dream, yet to begin the climb and
yet to know that they (too) can.
In the spirit of
gender parity, we must hold one another- both men and women alike. Encourage
one another and help one another. The generation of women before us cleared the
frontiers; it’s up to us to advance it. It is up to us to make opportunities
for girls to transcend beyond economic class, tribe, region, and race.
With parity, we
would see more girls in school, more women in leadership positions, more women
Entrepreneurs, more women in Science and Research. All these would in no small
measure make our world a better place.
Gender parity in
all of its beauty is a good thing, but we must aspire beyond it. That will be
better. For when our prime goes becomes equality, and we achieve it, we all
will still be burgled with problems affecting both sexes. Issues such as crime,
war, communal crisis, corruption, climate change, famine, etc. In light of
this, it is important that we aspire together, beyond parity towards peace,
partnership and progress.
Today as an
International Day for women goes beyond the aspirations of the girl-child but
also includes the balance of the realities of the grown woman. Every girl will
become a woman, so it is right to evaluate the prospects of womanhood in our
world today. We have come far, far from our grandmothers who grinded stones on their knees. They must be proud of
the women we have become today. As they see in us things they saw in their
sons. Things their husbands-our grandfathers thought only their sons.
As we press for
progress, may our granddaughters become far better women than we are today. May
they break new grounds that we cannot even imagine from the height we have
attained today.
While pressing
for progress, it is imperative that we help each other succeed. For every woman
or girl that holds success as an aspiration, it is upon us all to help her
bridge the gap.
We can be each
other’s heels. On heels we stand tall, taller and prettier, even with all the
discomfort it may bring.
Arua Ezinne
Celine.
Female.
Psychologist. Writer.
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