First held in New York City on February 28, 1909 as “Women’s Day”, the United Nations first celebrated International Women’s Day on March 8th, 1975, making this year’s celebration the 46th International Women’s Day. The second one to be held during the Covid-19 pandemic period.
This is also the year where David Bowie’s question, “Is there life on Mars?” may soon be answered. Meanwhile a long list remains of unmet women’s demands. Legal and political equality, freedom from violence, gender discrimination in the workplace, to name but a few. And do not forget a griming fact of women being paid 11 percent less than male counterparts.
Every 8th March, we look forward to seeing trending hashtags and relevant postings, pictures and quotes highlighting the topic. The future is female, girl boss, viva vagina. I am all up for it. But put your screen down for a second, preferably after you read this, and ask yourselves: How can we reduce this list of unmet demands?
We do not need to wait for the day to launch our own company and hire hundreds of women.
There are also small steps we can take at home and work on a daily basis. Following this year’s theme #ChooseToChallenge, here are some, but please feel free to add more of your own ideas!
1. Pick a cause and stick with it. It can be a support group for victims of abuse, signing a petition supporting a legislative bill for the elimination of sexual violence (RUU PKS... DPR, we are looking at you), or participate in campaigns and small businesses founded by women. You can also check here: UNWomen
2. If you have a woman working for you at home; a helper, a gardener, or a dog-carer, ask them this: “Do you have your own bank account? Be prepared to hear them say “No.” or “No, but my husband does.”
Accompany them to the bank, help with the application form and suggest that you transfer their salary into that account. Owning something with your name on it is truly a positive boost for self-actualization. And that is a big step in owning their identity as they begin to consider saving for the future.
3. If you are Indonesian, you will be familiar with the BPJS. This government-funded insurance scheme is a world apart from the smooth-sailing process you get if you enter a private hospital - but it is still a huge help for those in need. I am nowhere near to close in working with them, nor am I part of the government force, but with bittersweet experience with family members fighting cancer, I can say first hand that BPJS works - big time! The lowest premium is less than IDR 50,000 per month, and I like to believe we can all afford to absorb that for our maid or gardener. Once that they have that sense of security, their work ethic and loyalty will be even stronger
4. Some domestic workers cannot afford to pay someone to watch their kids while they work. So, allow them to bring their kid to work if possible. Set some ground rules but let them understand that you are doing this so that she (your maid) can work and provide for her family (for example, in my case, my helper’s kid cannot play with some of my dogs, as they are very wary of strangers)
5. It is time for the media and also us, to stop prefixing job titles with gender: for example, FEMALE CEO, FEMALE Chef, and FEMALE General Manager. Unless we want to cite MALE in every single professional position too
6. Have conversations with young girls about their favourite sports, most exciting subject at school (three of the girls I asked said: Recess and Maths!), and what they like most about their friends and family. We tend to default to commenting on their looks and their clothes, things we do not ask boys! They are good conversations, but there is more to little girls than only that. And that is on us
7. Understand an individual’s right to choose. Women can decide to live their lives differently. Differently from one another. Differently from social expectations. Differently from their mother’s, and father’s, expectations. Differently from family and friend’s expectations. It is an individual’s choice that is not an attack to others just because it's different.
So often we are caught up in society’s construct of “ideal” that we judge other women for their way of life, and sometimes, we lean into the nuance of sexism, bigotry, and sometimes victim-blaming. “Why are you still unmarried?” “Why not a natural birth instead of a C-section?” “Are you sure you can be a full-time working mum, without a tradeoff someplace?”
But toxic patriarchy is not the only force we need to confront. There is an equally toxic so-called culture amongst us women, where we are too quick to judge other women, instead of understanding, supporting and seeing the bigger picture. Let us be careful that a woman’s worse enemy does not become other women.
If you have already decided on your next move, let’s pick up our smart gadget again and post your hashtags to celebrate this important day!
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