Celebrate me not my gender.

International women’s day is celebrated on the 8th of March. Who celebrates it the most? Feminists do, in my opinion.

My phone has been beeping all morning. Endless wishes of Happy Women’s Day keep pouring in. These people on my Whatsapp list are friends I wish during festivals. Most often, when I send out the season’s greetings, I don’t receive a response. I assume that the individual is on holiday or busy celebrating the festival. Today, I have not responded to my friends for their congratulatory messages. Let me tell you why?

I am a woman. So? When I say “I am a woman and celebrate me for what I am”, I also say that I am different and I need to be celebrated. But am I really that different and special?

Today, at work if I am told that I could not undertake an outstation-marketing trip, would l like to be different? If I was told that I could not have random sex because I was a woman, will I adhere to the norm? I would not and I won’t. So then what is the difference? That I cannot answer nature’s call in the bushes, that my anatomy is designed to bear progeny, and that my self-respect can be violated with strength.

Yes, so that is the way we are built. Just like animals have their structures and birds and plants too, we are built in a certain way. The 'Why?' to this question is an answer mankind will never know. So then, what is the need to feed the seed of doubt of 'why him and not me'?

I am an urban woman, raised on fairgrounds. I have received all the opportunities that I should have had and I am proud of my upbringing. I will not allow my family’s strong sense of equality waste in vain. I don’t need a woman’s day celebration to make myself feel special. In fact, my family has always appreciated my contribution to their well being and happiness. They have respected my sacrifices in the spirit of love and necessity. And here let me add, that I have not been the only one to make all the sacrifices. My husband and son have also done their bit to strengthen the familial bond, leaving me to wonder if we have ever celebrated a Family’s Day. But I have not heard of one such. I wonder why?