Intentional Women's Day...

By TOMMY HOLGATE

The world needs women . . . and this should be recognised with equal pay and opportunity

Yesterday (Sunday 8 March) was International Women's Day.

The quote on the image above is powerful enough to bring to mind the contribution women make to society [of course, this contribution comes on top of giving birth to all of society's members] as well as the power of peaceful and well thought out demonstration.

As it happens, World Peace Day is on Septmeber 21st, which spawned the peace365 movement/campaign, which ultimately aims to see this day extended throughout the rest of the year, as per below...

A good year . . . as a relatively well-known singer put it, 'Imagine'

It would be nice to see 'International Women's Day' extended to 365 days a year as well.
I've got a mum for whom I am exceedingly grateful. Fetal gestation is nigh on impossible sans womb.

It is difficult to think at what point men became so arrogant that they declared women to be second class citizens.

Chances are, to you reading this now, the concept of such inequality may seem like a distant memory or 'something that happens in other countries', but our role as a forward-thinking nation that prides itself on being at the forefront of equal rights and multicultural acceptance may be to set the bar as high as possible and aim for 50/50 on all major decision-making bodies within the government, and a larger representation of women on boards of big businesses.

Then we might move away from trying to build the biggest buildings and have the fastest trains [satiating the male ego's desire for bragging rights, possibly, but does it help kids learn more about what's in an apple, or help an elderly person heat their home?] and think about how we can look after people.

The Green Party are setting a fine example with regards to raising the bar for numbers of women in politics, but - as I have heard them referred to on radio - to call them 'the women's party' is also a little unfair.

It makes it seem like the party doesn't hold sufficient machismo to attract a male crowd, which ought not to be the case.

It also sounds a little dismissive, as if 'women can go over there and talk about the environment and compassion-led policies, while we [men] plan a new high-speed rail infrastructure and compete for the opportunity to show which one of us knows most about money.

Just think about the plethora of Prime Minister's Question Time showings where 'grown-ups' display pre-juvenile behaviour, on national television, heckling each other and shouting each other down.

Does any listening actually occur? 

I like to think so. And I wouldn't be surprised if it were the gentler gender with their ears open.

I've heard people say: 

"You won't get MPs listening to each other and focussing on the concept of basic manners for love nor money."

But maybe one day we could. With a little bit of either.

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