As yet another Women’s Day rolls in soon, I am full of very conflicting emotions. However the biggest one of them is the growing frustration that the day has become synonymous with “Pink” L
It seems like you cant turn a corner without running into a token ‘Pink’ heart or a note that says something to the tune of – Long Live Womanhood! In my experience, even the most well-meaning organisations end up making a mockery of the day with the Senior Leaders distributing roses or notes to all the women in office appreciating them and so on. I have lived through a special dress-code for women, special outings to a Gold jewelry unit and even a few times when parlors were brought to the conference rooms. Don’t get me wrong please – I am not blaming men for this. A lot of the times the organizing teams included prominently women. And its not their fault either I guess – we women ourselves are not clear about what we deserve and should demand.
This year’s International Women’s Day theme is #eachforequal – essentially standing for the fact that its not just a women’s issue to push but equally important for everyone, including businesses, to pursue as a goal. I cannot begin to say thanks to whoever thought of this theme. Its time the world at large acknowledges that its not a war that only women need to fight. This impacts everyone – without exception. A workplace with a better gender ratio is a better place to work – period. Whether this is in terms of better work ethics or even just a more humane approach – it works for everyone to have a better balance.
However I would also want to put it on record that I’m not in favor of granting favors to anyone. A work task has to be evaluated similarly for everyone – irrespective of gender. Hiring cannot happen just because it’s a particular gender. Because that is severely demotivating. Have had run-ins with a few seniors when I was asked to join ‘Diversity’ meetings. I do not believe women qualify as being diverse. Everything else being equal – shall we offer the role to a woman over a man – fine. Make concessions in the hiring requirements because she is a woman and I have a quota to fill – NO!
Just today, read an article on how Unilever has matched its commitment of equal gender representation in its boards across its teams – this couldn’t have been easy considering they’re talking about 14,000 strong leadership teams. Its both heartening to know and disappointing that even in 2020 this is news! But then this is not surprising considering that the newly-elected majority government – that too on the plank of best performance – in Delhi, does not have a single woman representative in the ministries.
Contrast this with Finland – Prime Minister AND the top opposition leaders are all women in their 30’s. Is it any wonder that the country has consistently been in the list of best social environments in the world? The emergence of the hardliners in politics across the world is if anything a really omen for this cause.
I am not sure what I even wish for myself any more – but as a mother it is my heartfelt desire that I never have to explain to my son again why the campaign of ‘Beti Padhao, Beti Bachao’ was needed in the first place (and that its not meant to side-line boys!!) :)
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