One day Women's Day

My mother, an ardent Nepali who has always spoken against gender-based discrimination in our community, and was borderline horrified when her American friend didn’t know what March 8th was dedicated to. She asked me what kind of a modern woman did not know and value March 8. I thought the kind for whom it was irrelevant. But, I didn’t say that because it was the one date my mother looked forward to each spring. Celebrated annually by the socialist parties of eastern Europe since 1911, it was endorsed by the United Nations in 1977. March 8 was to be the one day handpicked from all the 365 available to remind ourselves of two facts: One, that women inhabit this planet. Two, that women may not be men, but that they were to be treated and accepted as equal to men.



In short, March 8 was supposed to materialize the radical notion that women too are people.



It´s an odd time to be born. A time in history when we need a multi-lateral agency to suggest such facts when it could very well be taken for granted. And yet, its odder still that the radical notion that women are people is not actually accepted by all, and if agreed to in words it is not always delivered in action.



As a woman myself, it is strange for me to comprehend the fact that we have been allotted a day to celebrate our sex. Stranger still that such a day makes sense because there still exist people who do not take women’s voice seriously.



In my church, women will lead and they will preach the sermon this week. In many organizations there is a women´s special. Martin Chautari, I understand is dedicating its seminars to women this month. And I´m sure it’s only a matter of time before this month is commercialized so that cards and flowers can be sold and reservations made at restaurants, but for now, it is still an NGO, feminist and women terrain.



I used to ask my mom what the point of fighting to let women preach one Saturday was, when they didn´t the remaining fifty-one Saturdays in many churches in Nepal.

It took me years to understand that even securing that one day to lead worship had been an ordeal for women like her; that they had marched through many hurdles to prove themselves theologically sound and fully committed to the church to be granted one Saturday in the year to call their own.



As a Gen-Y woman, it was difficult for me to accept that it’s not just men but women too who vehemently oppose the notion of women being as capable and being called to speak from the pulpit.



So, while my initial inclination is to ridicule the UN setting aside one day for women, I have to come to terms with why this is the case. This is the case because there is an ongoing struggle to attain what has been given as the norm for me.




Just as women like my mother preaching from a pulpit once a year was opposed, mocked and deemed a crime not too long ago, it was also slowly and eventually accepted. My personal experience with this helps me see the value of marking one day to highlight women, their issues, their concerns and their sentiments so as to give them value and to celebrate them.



Structural changes do not appear overnight. And when they do, it is the result of blood, sweat and tears.



Such days designed to highlight one group or another demands we give the subject attention.



Today more women than ever in history work in the public sphere - we may be surrounded by air hostesses, receptionists, nurses and school teachers, occupations that seem to have since been marked women’s domain. However, we cannot dismiss the fact that there was a generation of women who had to fight to earn their paycheck through these professions.



I told a friend that I, as a woman, was insulted to be given one day to celebrate in allotted time - one week or one month in the efforts of some - because isn´t the idea to have every day be for both men and women?



Sometimes we forget how privileged we were – those of us who are perhaps born and raised in such female-friendly houses, those of who attend a church where women frequently hold the microphone. Sometimes we forget that for a vast number of women in our country a day set aside to celebrate and highlight them is unheard of, that there are women who deal with unimaginable limitations and discriminations on a daily basis. And in the process, the lucky few, like myself, sometime end up whining about the likes of Martin Chautari slotting women speakers for the month.



But, the truth is, these calculated days and organized months have a purpose. And the purpose is to welcome women everywhere, to encourage them to stand up and to speak – a few may start today, but more will definitely later.



In an ideal world, we could do away with marking a day like this. But, in the meantime we women have to respond to the nudge. The recent debates regarding property rights and citizenship – that passes through a woman, are indeed pivotal points in Nepali history. And, that is something worth celebrating. Maybe in time female priests will be accepted in Hindu functions and female-only month will be deemed unnecessary as every month female pundits will speak at Mangalbare discussions.

Till then and as they say, one day at a time.



Here’s to March 8th – Happy Women’s Day!



sradda.thapa@gmail.com

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