As we celebrate the International Woman’s Day today on the 8^th of March 2013, let us reflect somewhat at the importance of this day. Most of us would be aware that across the world women have been oppressed as they were wrongfully supposed to be the weaker gender and hence were considered inferior to men. This may not be a rule but still it had few exceptions, even though in the very ancient times, women were considered equally respectable as men, but somewhere later, their position was not a pretty good one.

Currently most places of the world give equal rights to women, at least in theory but even to achieve that place, the struggle has been a long one. Since the conditions and circumstances in each country and even in different regions within a nation are not uniform, this article does not claim to represent a Universalist approach but a general guide to the state of the female gender in this modern era.

A lot of women and men have fought this war on equality. Today after ages of struggle women have proved themselves in all the walks of life. We have women in army and in navy today. It is true that womanhood must be celebrated daily. However, there has been a special day selected to celebrate this special day. The date is eighth of March. The day is celebrated all across the world to honour the achievement of women. On this day you can thank any woman who has been a part of your life.

Woman’s day was first celebrated in 1909 in the United States. It was basically a day to celebrate the fact that women have come up a long way and also were give the right to vote. Since then almost every year this day is celebrated. The date keeps changing though. The initial suggestion was to call is working woman’s day. However, with time this was also changed and the day was named just woman’s day. Evert year the theme of the day is different. For 2013 the theme is to end violence against woman.

In the olden days women were highly respected. They were considered to be Shakti. In most of our mythological stories it is women who have killed the demons. Even today Goddesses are worshiped all across India. However, people have forgotten that women must be respected even outside the temple. With time women were oppressed. They were made to cook and stay at home. They were not even allowed to study. In the Vedic India there were women who were highly educated. Swami Vivekananda would say that a society that does not respect its women will never succeed. He said that mother is the first teacher. If you have a mother who is well educated and intelligent the children will automatically become smart. He was the first person in India who opened schools for girls.

When we glorify the achievement of women over the last few centuries we have to accept that even men have played a vital role in this revolution. Men today support women more than ever. They help them with household work. Some men have even gone to the extent of becoming house husbands. It is a growing trend. When a woman earns more than a man then she continues to work whereas the man resigns and looks after the family. This has made it possible for women to achieve more success. Thanks to the men the women today can achieve work life balance easily.

On this world woman’s day we have to discuss the fact that even today the crime against women in India is very high. Women are denied education; they are killed, raped and even burnt alive. We as a society must do something about this. We have to empower women. We have to ensure that they are made aware of their rights. Whenever we see a crime against women we should oppose it. As parents we must teach our children to respect women. This can happen only when we start respecting them. We all will have to work together. We have won a battle but there is another battle waiting. We have to fight this evil in the society.

Women must know self-defence. They should never feel that they are physically or mentally weak. If you have daughter then do teach her to defend herself. Give her a good education so that she can be independent and she can live life on her terms. Killing a girl child is a heinous crime. A girl can do much more for her parents than a son. Just that you have to mentally prepare yourself for this transition. We as a society has to accept the fact that even a daughter can do all that a son can. We have to start from schools.

Dowry is another reason why women are suffering. There have been laws made to ensure that Dowry is made illegal. Nevertheless, the evil still exists. We as a woman have to take a stand that we will not get married to guys who ask for dowry. If you want respect you have to ensure that you oppose to anything that is wrong. We salute all those women who have refused to marry men asking for dowry. There is a long way to go but these small steps can make India and the world a better place to live in for women.

We have some interesting statistics here. Today about seventy per cent mom’s work which was around forty seven per cent even some years back. Fourteen per cent of the U.S army consists of women. More than sixty per cent of the college degrees that are given in the U.S go to women. The highest marks in an I.Q test were scored by women. This shows women are smarter when compared to men. It was only in 1924 that Olympics allowed women today women participate in all the competitions held at Olympics.

Now let’s talk of some woman achievers. Marie Curie was the only woman who won two Nobel prizes. Hatshepsut was the fifth pharaoh of Egypt. She ruled the country for twenty years. Queen Victoria was a woman who ruled the majority of the world. Indira Gandhi was the only Indian prime minister who has ruled the country for the maximum number of years.

To celebrate this day you can wish any woman that you associate with. The celebration is of womanhood. You can give the women flowers, cards, etc. It is just a gesture to thank them for the role that they are playing in the society. In a deeper sense, try to accept women in the work environment and also respect them.  Try to accept that they must be given an equal opportunity. Appreciate the fact that nature has made them physically weak but it has given them power to give birth and to be emotionally much stronger than men. The day we can make the society belive that men and women are same and must be given equal opportunity, that is when will truly celebrate world woman’s day.

Personal Section

Not every female is world famous or popular or is a celebrity; many women are just unsung heroines. We suggest to all our readers to use the comment box to say few words about any such lady today and share it with their friends etc.

For a start the author starts with a female she knows personally, Meetu Nayyar (topmost lefthand corner image in picture above), a lawyer by profession, co-owner at Abhishek Solutions and most importantly, a strong character who defeated cancer and has the courage to start normal life once again and now helps others by offering a platform to connect via CanFightCancer and IndianCancerSociety websites and also incharge of our new parenting website, Betibeta. We at Abhishek Solutions wish her a life long stint with us and best wishes for her health in her entire life.