Why Women Need to March! Women's Day 2021

In 1910, women from 17 countries decided at the second International Socialist Women’s Conference to have an International Women’s Day to promote women’s rights around the world. Ever since then, 8 March has been celebrated as International Women’s Day.

It’s been years. Some progress has been made but it is very slow. We still witness women being oppressed. The crimes against women are being committed on daily basis but the criminals roam freely in front of our eyes; committing violence, torturing women, and what is being done by all of us? Nothing.

On 8^th of March, every year, women celebrate their day but the freedom to do it is held back by the societal norms and cultural traditions that do not allow women to fully exercise their rights.

Every year, they raise their voice and march against injustice that is being carried out globally.

Why do women need to march?
Who are the people they speak up against?
Who are these criminals and why are they not held accountable for their sins?
Who are the people backing these criminals and defending them?
Are they really not guilty or years of systemic misogyny has conditioned the society into believing that the things they do are not crimes?
Are they from another planet or are they a product of the patriarchal societies we were born into?

If society was fair, would there be millions of women marching for their rights on International Women’s Day?

Do you want to ponder upon the reality or would you like to continue living in a fantasy bubble- that I hope really existed. It is incomprehensible as to why after two horrific World Wars, the rise and fall of democracy, many revolutions and movements, and several waves of feminism later; mankind is yet to witness a fair society where women need not step out on 8th March to speak up and demand what is supposed to be already theirs.

What kind of society do we live in that victims do not have allies, victims are the only ones speaking up and victims are the ones being shamed for demanding basic rights. Not just this, victims are made to shut up by using violence against them.

We do not live in an ideal world and making it one is not a possibility but the effort to achieve that, is still possible. That’s upon us.

What do we want to be? Allies or the spectators?
What do we want to do? Bring change or watch the world burn?

As a woman, I have witnessed it all. Why would I not be on my side? But, how about you? Would you support systemic misogyny or would you side with imperfect feminism?

If your answer begins with ‘but’, you have the answer to if society is really fair.

Who makes up a society? We do.

Are we fair to the to the women in our ideas and in our thoughts?

If not, what impact does it have on them in real-life?

If we are not fair to them in our head, imagine the plight of women who face it in real life, who are treated as second class citizens, as competitors, as inferiors, rather than fellow human beings.

If women marching on 8th March really bothers us, what are we doing to solve their issues?
What are we doing to meet their demands?
Who are the people these women march against and who are we protecting them from?
If all of this sounds ambiguous and nothing makes sense, ask yourself: what am I doing to fix this society and make it a safe place?

I know the idea of being woke and speaking up for rights has gotten mainstream. It now does not sound fancy and we are really bored with it. But think for a moment, are women’s lives really this insignificant that nobody cares enough to actually make a change?

What are we waiting for? Most men and women in power exploit others and as long as we as a community do not come together, nothing is going to happen.

Men need women and women need men. For the possibility of a change and to shift the world’s focus towards humans rights, it is the need of time to come together and work together to make a better society for us and for the coming generations.

Let’s prove to the world humanity is not a myth. Let’s make this world a safe space so no kid ever has to grow up and ask; If this society is really fair?

If not now, then when?

Join us in this holy cause. Hand in hand, we’ll bring positive change. One step at a time.