To be bored of International Women’s Day?

[Athenaena]

I suspect the answer will be a resounding yes.

I totally appreciate women have overcome suppression etc and I’m absolutely proud and immensely grateful for the sacrifices my fellow women have made in the past to allow myself and others to be where we are today, but I just feel bored by all the constant ‘Who run the world, girls’ ‘Shoutout to all my fellow queens’ etc posts that I’ve been bombarded with on various social media platforms this morning.

Why do we need a ‘special day’? It just feels a bit patronising and unnecessary, added to that, some of the women sharing this stuff are some of the cattiest, misogynistic women I know. They’re okay to empower other women today when it’s popular.

All in all I just find it totally unnecessary. Yay, we’re women aren’t we great, woohoo

I assume the Harry Potter actor woman will be bleating on about... what was it again? Wearing the right shoes and ruling to works or something... she pops up on Facebook waffling on...

I didn’t see any twitter posts celebrating IWD from the London mayor. Funny that.

Who decides that other categories get a month? That is unfair.

Actually I ignore the whole lot. Totally agree with the poster who said we should look for solutions and celebrate achievements-not just wallow in a whine-fest.

Some things just take a hell of a lot more explaining to do!

I don’t have an issue with IWD but I do with people - mainly men - who insist on virtue signalling hypocrisy around it.

A colleague from my last firm appeared charming and quite shy on the surface, but our mutual secretary later confided in me that he’d basically harassed her, commented inappropriately on her clothes, invited her over for sex, described her as a ‘sexy Secretary’ etc - this is despite having a long term partner. Despite her attempts to rebuff him he persisted for months. Apparently he’d tried similar with other support staff.

I see today he has posted a saccharine linked-in post about ‘strong independent women’, those who’ve helped his career, how we need to do more to give women equal opportunities etc and breakdown barriers to our progression. Coming from a lecherous perv with no boundaries and who seems to see support staff as easy pickings it makes something of a mockery of the whole thing.

That said, on the whole i do think IWD is an opportunity to highlight female oppression and the enduring chasm between the sexes...

I appreciate getting 10% off when I am buying a skirt or a necklace today, as a woman really I do, but wouldn't it make more sense to give that 10% to a charity or something instead?

The whole thing is farcical. But I still got my 10% off, result.

Completely agree with you op.

I have seen no one in a pink sparkly (or any colour) women's day t shirt, online or offline... I agree though- a t shirt solves nothing. Waste of money!

Women need to stick together, for women. Only the other day I was reading on here about Trans people raping women in prisons. There is still a reason to stand for womens rights.

I have seen no one in a pink sparkly (or any colour) women's day t shirt, online or offline... I agree though- a t shirt solves nothing. Waste of money!

I don't want to give them publicity, but I have seen plenty!

Maybe because I generally look at pink and sparkly things

@goodbyelenin

I have seen no one in a pink sparkly (or any colour) women's day t shirt, online or offline... I agree though- a t shirt solves nothing. Waste of money!

I don't want to give them publicity, but I have seen plenty!

Maybe because I generally look at pink and sparkly things

I have been on and off instagram all day, not sure how but I havent seen a single one!

I do like pink...

I get IWD as a concept.

What I don’t like is the execution. I work in a tech business. IWD has been co-opted by the women in ‘waste of space’ jobs (internal communications, internal recruitment, learning and development) trying to get us to like their “go girl!” posts and watch videos of them explaining how to be a successful woman like them.

They could easily have rolled out some female coders. That would have been worth a watch. But no, it’s the women in the fluffy jobs reinforcing the stereotype of the types of roles women should be in, and how women in business should behave. No thanks.

@LastRoloIsMine

Why do we need a ‘special day’?

50,000 women killed globally in 2018 by male intimate partner or family member.
Women are still under paid.
DV is on the rise.
Sexual assault and rape is also increasing.

The day is to ensure the atrocities females suffer at the hands of males are not forgotten.
The day is to highlight just how amazing women are and can be when we are not being murdered, raped and oppressed.

Yes yes and 🙌

'They could easily have rolled out some female coders. '

We did something like this today and it was really good.

The go girl type stuff is easy, and a cop out. There are real problems that need addressing. That's a bit tricky though and TBH many women know deep down that lots of men don't want to hear it.

So you get the prosecco empowerfulment bubbly version which I agree is painful and trivialises the whole thing.

I assume the Harry Potter actor woman will be bleating on about... what was it again? Wearing the right shoes and ruling to works or something... she pops up on Facebook waffling on...

gosh thank goodness that in the past so many women went through so much bleating so that we can: vote, own property, on separation our children aren't automatically handed over to their father, have a bank account, marital rape has been outlawed, we can carry on working even though we're married or mothers, are allowed to drive... etc etc

The fact that this doesn't apply to all women in the world means that the reason for IWD (started by communist women, btw, fighting for equal rights) is still there.

And instead of OP asking what has changed, how about being part of the change?

Germaine Greer said something like 'if they give you a special day, you know you've lost'

There's a national donut day too.
Women are as important as donuts.

The Billy Bragg Facebook post was especially galling yesterday given his views that women don't really exist.

At the moment instagram keeps showing me adverts for comfy sandals! Most recently it was Air and Grace, but the are a bit pricey!

Ive not seen any WD merch still... not that Id buy it. Id rather donate to a charity. Can anyone suggest a worthy womens charity that helps women less well off?

I am stuck between Womensaid here or a charity abroad that helps victims of trafficking, rape, FGM or war.... any ideas?

There have been threads on here recently where posters have berated women for not disclosing the minutate of their family plans to their employer, been arseholes to women who think they don't want to return after maternity leave but want to hold off informing work until they know for sure because it's awful to the business. There's post after post from posters arguing that women taking maternity leave and making use of the maternity rights they have is a reason why employers shouldn't employ women, and that these women are giving women a bad name.

Look at lockdown and how many women have been disproportionately affected by lockdown because the big important men couldn't possibly do their share.

Whilst some IWD posts on social media are a bit cheesy, I'd still rather have a day where we can talk about women succeeding and raising awareness of the fact we still aren't there yet.

Come back to us when men as a class are largely doing their fair share of parenting, taking parental leave, working flexibly instead of expecting their partners to, and are doing their fair share of caring for their own elderly parents, when sex selective abortions are gone, when it's no longer considered to argue that in some circumstances a woman might have been asking to be sexually assaulted etc and then we can talk about whether women have 'overcome suppression'

Funnily enough - the most woman employee unfriendly bosses I’ve had the pleasure of working for (in the City) have been... other women. That’s really weird isn’t it?

Germaine Greer said something like 'if they give you a special day, you know you've lost'

Another reason to admire Germaine Greer.

@Liquorishtoffee

Funnily enough - the most woman employee unfriendly bosses I’ve had the pleasure of working for (in the City) have been... other women. That’s really weird isn’t it?

This reminded me of my recent situation - I've had a difficult pregnancy and struggled throughout needing stretches of time of work at different times. I have two managers, one male, one female. The woman was awful - hardly any support at all, kept telling me how she had just "got on with it" at work when she was pregnant and made me feel stupid for not being able to do the same. The man however was incredibly empathic and supportive, and encouraged me to take all the time I needed. He also advocated for me with the female manager. I know this one isolated example, but it was such a surprise to me that it was this way around!

Funnily enough - the most woman employee unfriendly bosses I’ve had the pleasure of working for (in the City) have been... other women. That’s really weird isn’t it?
It's not weird at all.
Those who get ahead have to fit a particular style and that style is dictated by the men who can shove their family life on the backburner by outsourcing domestic work/childcare or by having a wife at home who runs the family. Women who get on in those environments will tend to do the same thing and because they've got to a good place, they falsely believe that the playing field has been levelled.
The environment hasn't become more equal, and it hasn't been more inclusive of mothers. Some women have just played the game and are unfairly judging women who aren't willing to play like a man.

The strangest thing is that the women I know who are breaking down barriers, working in male dominated industries and speaking out on behalf of women don’t post anything. The ones who perpetuate sexist ideas and values are the ones posting selfies today.

Some women have just played the game and are unfairly judging women who aren't willing to play like a man.

This does sound suspiciously like the female manager I referred to! She's definitely playing the "at the top" game. Only difference in my scenario is it was a man who advocated for my rights and pushed this issue with her. So it was almost as though she'd gone too far to the other side, and he had come back to my side to balance it out! Odd dynamic. But I was eternally grateful for him nonetheless. I think I'd have walked from the job without his support during that time.