Sealion says ‘Women’s day is not a thing’
An honest anecdote of the conversation I had with Mr Sealion about the Women’s day celebration.
Broke my morning to the melodies of blackbird, untied my bun to free my curls in the breeze, felt like a really great day.
‘Morning Love!’ — A familiar, but not-so-fond voice or rather should I call it noise? Shaking off the doze, I saw him, handing over a hot cup of coffee- Mr Sealion!
Looking at the calendar I realised it was that day of the year- March 8, the day Mr Sealion comes for a visit as an uninvited guest with a whole load of unwanted doubts.
‘Seriously? Mr Sealion, you need to take a break!’- I forced myself out of the bed and snatched my coffee from him.
‘As you know, yeah, today is supposedly called YOUR day, right. So why don’t we just celebrate it REAL NICE?’ Sealion’s evil smirk was not new knowing what he was cooking in his brain.
‘Just answer me quickly. Are you that self-obsessed to celebrate yourselves? To have an International Women’s day?’ — Sealion started.
‘You see, Women’s day is to commemorate the rights women have which has been conveniently forgotten by the world. Just the way you have barged into my privacy today! When something is being forgotten quickly, at times, you need to smack it right into the heads of people *blink blink* ’
‘Well, Then why not celebrate Men’s day as grand as your day? Huh? This is not right!’
“Yes, you said it! We ‘celebrate’ Men’s Day but Women’s Day is not a day of celebration. On the other hand, it is a day to challenge the inequalities and discrimination that still persists in our society. Men’s Day is to celebrate their contributions and to challenge toxic masculinity. While women’s day is to create more awareness. Maybe in the present day the way we celebrate women’s day itself may be in a wrong way, using it as another effective marketing tool for companies to sell the products and services or it even create more disparities within gender like celebrating women’s day in a ‘women-only’ atmosphere. All genders face their own problems. When it comes to women, they were being oppressed for centuries for even the basic rights, and it needs constant shout-outs to remind others that we have not reached the point of equality. We live in a society where a woman is being punished for just being a woman. And women’s day is part of a larger movement which will thus automatically gather more attention than a stand-alone day. ”
‘Hmm okay, but for Your Information, not everyone is happy in celebrating You! Obviously, Karen next door is ashamed of standing up for ‘Women’ even when she is one among you. I mean you should see, she is so damn scared of being called a feminist that refrains her from raising her voice to everything wrong. Hahaha, TBH, even I laugh at how silly Karen is.’
‘You see, you have the answer in your question itself. Don’t you think the world has manipulated the word ‘feminism’ or ‘standing up’ to a lot worse way for their own liking that now, no one, literally no one knows the real meaning of these? People who are scared of being called names for talking for their rights are not the wrongs here, the people who make them feel so are rotten. Who am I even talking to! Sealion, do you still remember how I taught you feminism is equalism or have you forgotten that already?
‘Hmm.. Doesn’t ring a bell!’
‘Obviously!’
‘So, how have you planned to celebrate your day?’
‘Well, celebration ain’t gonna just limit to one day, for this is not some event to be conducted. Women’s day is a movement, it is an opportunity to remind of the ways the world has to grow to contain everyone without prejudice, unfair plays and rights. As far as I think, the day must not be limited to women, as we are already aware of the issues we face today. It must be extended to include all the spectrums of gender to know and understand the relevance of the day, why we need a women’s day.
‘Oh wait! Don’t you think your obsession has reached so high? Is this even relevant today?’
‘The day will be relevant until the day we do not need to celebrate another Woman’s day to remind everyone of its relevance. A day when a family is no longer worried about having a girl child, a day with zero female infanticides, a day where a women’s honour is not determined by her virginity, no more glass ceilings or forceful fitting into glass slippers, a day when I can walk on the streets without hunching my shoulders when I hear a footstep near me..’
‘Hmm. So, then, what can -’.
‘Time’s up Mr Sealion!’ Without having any more time for justifying and answering his questions that he has been asking for over a decade now, cutting him halfway, was the only way possible.
I took my bag, rolled up my sleeves, slid into my sneakers to walk into the den of Sealions, focusing on what was yet to come.
Happy Women’s day everyone! To not giving up, To not being silent, To being aware of what you are and what built you, Happy Women’s day.
