#33 Protesting… again
Last Saturday, March 8th, people celebrated International Women’s Day worldwide, or so they said. I saw posts, documentaries, books, and people discussing the importance of this day. Still, I have to say I’ve grown a certain disrespect for this day, not because I don’t believe equality is important, but because I feel disgusting the need to say: “Hey! Hey! I’m here! I have value!”
I am here, and I have value each and every day of the year. I should not need to tell it around for people to believe it.
Both women and men are necessary in this world—that’s a fact— and no one signed— as far as I understand— that one sex should bend the knee to the other just because they could not run so fast or kill a Mammoth. While men killed animals, women took care of children. When agriculture started, women worked in the fields; when wars started, and men fought the battles, women took their places in factories and cared for kids, elders, and injured… women cared for everyone but themselves, and when they did, they were called selfish.
Who does not like to have someone who works for them and provides the money? Is it so bad to expect a clean house, happy kids, and physical needs to be cared for when the man arrives home?
Everyone has the right to think, but expectations are something else. Those are a weight placed carefully over half this world's population, since they are born, requested to be nice and demanded to contribute to society. Women nowadays—whenever they are born in the right places— are allowed to study and to work, but the option, right and burden of pregnancies were never out of the table. Men cannot be pregnant— that’s a fact— but men can change a woman’s life after a one-night stand, a bad government decision, or a sexist work environment… funny enough, even when women decide to have no kids, they can be considered weird, selfish, and many other things I don’t feel like writing. In summary, some days, it seems there is no way to win. No matter what we do, there will be someone, somewhere, calling us names. And that’s why we got one day to say everything we want and defend ourselves… and I’m sorry, but I don’t like it.
So, this is my official protest: I raise my voice for every girl and woman worldwide today, a random day, in a moment so important (or not) as any other.
Last year, I wrote something, and when I read it again a few days back, I found it relevant enough to include in this post. My kids keep on having the same discussions one year later, the same way the whole world has not made up its mind about the need to bend the knee to reality: everyone matters, and the fact of needing a day to remind it is a sad injustice. You can check that post below…
https://www.lcfrias.com/blog-1/7-can-we-stop-the-celebration
