International Women's Day? RETCH.

[amanuensis1]

Just need to rant off-topic and say that I find the idea of International Women's Day appalling. What, we need a day to commemorate 51% of the world's population? Women need a DAY so we, what, don't forget about them or fail to appreciate their dear little bunny-boo selves, the helpless widdle creatures?

What. The. F**K??

(Yes, I know it's rooted in history, and this was exactly the point when it was created. My point is that we should be ASHAMED of this, today--not act as though it is something to be effing celebrated.)

Comments

[cluegirl.livejournal.com]

Yup.

I propose a "day" for the REAL minority -- let's have WMASP day, eh?

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

Yeah, we get a *day,* so we don't need the other 364, is that the idea? Christ.

[mona1347.livejournal.com]

WOOOOOOOORD!!!!

However, I do like the female symbol on Google today. But still - Word.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

Actually, that's how I found out about it! Saw that on Google and discovered it was clickable.

[mona1347.livejournal.com]

Dude, I have a working hypothesis that Google really *IS* the Vortex of the Universe for us computing types.

[ellid.livejournal.com]

Pretty pathetic, no? It's rather like the idea of cramming everything about African-Americans into Black History Month and ignoring them the rest of the time.

The best solution, of course, would be to do what the art history professors were doing my last year in college: integrate women into the general curriculum instead of trying to shoehorn Artemisia Gentileschi, Elisabeth Vigee-Lebrun, Harriet Powers, and George O'Keeffe into one course on "Women's Art." But until the Revolution, my sistahs, alas we're stuck with being shoehorned....;(

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

Good for your professors! And what do you mean, until the Revolution? I had the Revolution the moment I emerged from the womb and started making my wants known.

[ellid.livejournal.com]

Well, we are talking a women's college here... :D

I didn't start yelling "Power to the People" until I was safely at college and away from my Republican relatives. But I *thought* it from the time I was ten or so....

[josanpq.livejournal.com]

The police beat the shit out of a bunch of women who dared protest in Turkey today. I watched the news tonight as one heavily garbed male kicked a woman in the face after another had hit her so she had fallen.

That's why we still need international woman's day.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

*weeps* We shouldn't HAVE to need it. God, god, god.

...And why am I invoking God? I believe in freewill, don't I? *howls the "man's inhumanity to man" howl*

[josanpq.livejournal.com]

In the best of all possible worlds, no, we shouldn't. But it isn't and so we do. At least the attack on the women got covered by the international press (which won't do Turkey's desire to join the European Community much good!). Sad sigh.

[saturn92103.livejournal.com]

Do you watch the West Wing? Ainsley Hayes would be first in line to your "women should not need a day or a law or a proclimation to let us know that they're equal and just as worthy as the male minority" party. And I'd likely be next in line.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

I don't watch it, but I'm with her. And would like to meet her (and you)!

[ellid.livejournal.com]

Well, the character was allegedly a Smithie...which was interesting, because Smith has a well-deserved reputation as a liberal bastion. :D

Int. Women's Day

[justinetre.livejournal.com]

Too fucking right! I just don't *get* it.

Re: Int. Women's Day

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

It's bleeding astounding.

[pir8fancier.livejournal.com]

My sentiments exactly.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

*hi-fives*

[pir8fancier.livejournal.com]

Went further berserk.

[pir8fancier.livejournal.com]

My sentiments exactly.

I think this is analogous to "Secretary's Day." You can be an utter asshole to your secretary the entire year, but on one day you buy her lunch and give her flowers. Which does two things: one, it absolves you from treating her with respect and dignity the other 365 days a year; and two, it masks what is essentially a token gesture that, AGAIN, absolves you from paying her/him a decent wage with decent benefits.

I don't want a fucking day. I want to get paid a 100% of what a man gets paid in the same job, not, what is it now, an average of 69% pay for women versus what a man gets paid for the same frigging work. I want the same opportunities, the same chance of promotion. I don't want anything special. I want what the OTHER 49% get without even asking.

::Shakes fist:

Keep your fucking day.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

*hi-fives even HARDER*

[fatascribunda.livejournal.com]

or like Valentine's day...

[ellid.livejournal.com]

I still have bitter memories of the last time I was "honored" at Secretaries' Day. The man I worked for was an utter idiot; he was a new lawyer, dreadfully insecure, didn't know what he was doing, and managed to be both anal retentive and careless about making deadlines. I would have much preferred that he treat me decently and not accuse me of being an incompetent liar.

[gmth.livejournal.com]

Can we have a Protestant white males' day next? Then maybe we can forget about them for the other 364 days. Things might run a bit more smoothly that way.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

I'll agree in a "See if THEY like it," way. Really, can't we all just get alonggggg?

[ceilidh]

*dies*

[ellid.livejournal.com]

Psst. Don't tell Rush Limbaugh. He might agree, and then we'd never hear the last of it from the Mouth That Roared.

[halonine.livejournal.com]

This is brilliant! I'm going to be dying to mention it to someone all day. >:)

[fatascribunda.livejournal.com]

we shouldn't NEED one, no, but it's like I said to my friend just now...

until we have 51% of the representation in gov't, until we have51% of the representation in schools, in curriculum, in sports, in news, then yeah, we do need one. and one of the posters above talked about the women in Turkey. I have family in the Middle EAst and when I travel there, I sometimes feel like I have to change my clothes. Never mind that I'm a Christian woman, in a Christian country (Lebanon, which is awesome these days!). Nevermind that I don't WANT to dress more modestly. I still get stared at and watched and glared at. So no, we really don't need a women's day, but we shouldn't need a V-day ("until the Violence stops", that one), but we still have one. and it's like the slogan says : Until The Violence Stops. So in my book, we DO need an Int'l Women's Day. And then we need to make sure it doesn't stop at a day. But until we get equal treatment, we need to hold on to something. I treat it as a vigil and as a day of rememberance to all the sacrifices done so I can have what I have now.

ugh, sorry, I ramble.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

No, it's a good ramble. And the point about having the share of representation we should have is right on.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

"This restaurant's food is terrible."

"Yeah, and they give you such small portions."

[fabularasa.livejournal.com]

Hee hee. You used my favorite joke.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

Sums it all up, doesn't it?

wait for it...

[eskimosatan.livejournal.com]

Women need a DAY so we, what, don't forget about them

wait a minute. Women? Women... hmm... oh, damn, Women! I knew I'd forgotten something! Thank god for International Women's Day or I'd never have remembered and then the wife would have really killed me. I mean, that's worse than forgetting to take the trash out, or... I dunno, feed the cats. ::sigh:: How am I expected to remember things like "Women" without the assistance of an internationally recognized holiday? I tell ya.

Excuse me while I chuckle derisively into the arm of my chair.

Re: wait for it...

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

Derisive chuckles all around.

[vikingcarrot.livejournal.com]

Woooooord.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

*does self-satisfied hands-in-pockets sulk at the wall*

[kleio-the-muse.livejournal.com]

I'm afraid I'm going to have to disagree. You may live in a country where women are considered more or less equal (even though I doubt even there jobs and income are distributed according to said percentage), but if you bother to turn on the telly for only a moment you'll find that not everyone is as lucky. It was the pictures of policemen beating unarmed women during a women's rights demonstration in Turkey this week that I found appalling. Particularly the image of a masked man kicking a female demonstrator in the face seems to be imprinted in my mind, can't imagine why.

I, for one, had a wonderful day yesterday and enjoyed the privileges I now have enormously:) And I doubt an international day of mourning for the shitty treatment of the weaker sex would've been quite as nice. Merely saying.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

Your point is taken and, as josanpq mentioned above, is a valid one. My upbringing obviously influences my view of this; I've never been made to feel second-class because of gender and so am more likely to respond with outrage at the concept that women might be considered so. I still feel that it will be a grand day when historians can say, "And can you believe, they had this thing called International WOMEN'S Day?" and everyone gasps or looks puzzled.

[venivincere]

Amen!

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

Cos, you know, we might forget about women or something if we didn't have a day for them. Makes you sick, donnit? Especially given the state of things in the whole world.

[lyttlelucyfer.livejournal.com]

I think the whole thing is about unity more than anything. We, as women, need to appreciate what we have achieved and how much farther we have to go. In an imperfect world, the struggle for gender equality is one of the most visible and fast moving of issues, at least in MEDCs, and Women's Day is intended to make us realise this and orient ourselves in terms of how we see ourselves and our gender. The greatest enemy to gender equality is socialisation, I guess, and the day is there so we remember that we can look past what society has taught us.

Sorry if Im rambling, but I ended up doing a bit of work on our student council last year for this, and it was rather thought provoking, to say the least.


Personally, I am waiting for the day when we DO forget women, because then it will mean that there are no longer preconcieved boundaries between the genders, and we can all bloody well get on with our lives!

There we go, made myself look nuts.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

Nah, not nuts--we're on the same page. There are positives behind the concept, and you illlustrated them--and yeah, the getting-on-with-our-lives part would be particularly nice.