In case you didn’t know International Women’s Day is today, Sunday March 8, 2015 where the world celebrates females and brings global awareness to women issues.
I wrote about this day two years ago in a positive light and though I still view it as favorable, I want to know what’s being DONE about finding solutions to these issues. How are we preventing the kidnapping of women and selling them like objects into sex trafficking? How are we leveling the financial playing field on the field and in the boardroom? How are we going to make sure our girls grow up to understand that they belong in the engineering, science, government careers just as much as the boys, if not more? WHAT ARE WE DOING TO MAKE EQUALITY A REALITY? And not something that’s just talked about, donated to or rallied upon?
According to the International Women’s Day website, each year 1,000+ International Women’s Day events are uploaded by corporations, women’s groups, schools, governments, charities and individuals from around the world. Only 1,000 recorded? And only about 175 for the U.S. — I find this a bit disappointing.
There are events all over the world that are raising money and growing awareness, but are they lobbying the governments? I’ve been beating myself over the head for several years because I’m not understanding if all this money is being raised and all this awareness is being amplified, why is there little to no change? Maybe one solution: have more women run and become elected officials in government so they can look out for our uteruses’ well being, our pocketbooks stability and our overall safety.
Donating money and heightening awareness is all fine and well, but if corporations, for example, took money they were donating to these women’s rights organizations and instead gave their female employees a raise to catch up to the men in the company, would result in a greater and more instantaneous impact on equality. Just a thought, though I do encourage donating to some of these organizations. And I realize there’s not one solution to answer my eleventy-hundred questions.
However, what I do know is we have to stop attacking those who are using their public clout or “celebrity,” to bring about awareness. We have to stop making it a race issue or religious issue, instead we have to make it about coming together for the sake of equality in all its forms. If we keep attacking the millions who are speaking up, soon enough they’ll get tired of dodging the darts and start shutting up. No thank you, I quite like that people in the public eye are finally speaking out for the betterment of today’s society. We must empower each other and stand together in order to make change.
