It should be said, first of all, that I have almost no idea what this means. I mean, I can infer that therefore we should CELEBRATE WOMEN! That's cool, I'm totally down with that. I mean, I am fairly awesome. Most of the women I know are. In general, worldwide, women are not always valued in various roles as much as men are. I see this an attempt to elevate them. In a rather meaningless, social-media-holiday sort of way (for the most part) but still, a worthy attempt nonetheless. (I mean, not to diss on social media too much. Obviously, I love it. I just wonder sometimes, what the POINT of everything is? What does it matter if I put a border on my FB profile picture in response to a particular day or the latest tragedy or sporting event or... I don't know. It's fun and all, it just feels meaningless. And all too often things go down political party lines and I'm just NOT HERE for that. Like we need FB picture changes to further divide us.) I'm sure there are plenty of actual in - person events to mark International Women's Day that are very worthy. I just don't know what they are.
Anyway. So. It's another Social Media Holiday! That's okay, it's a Social Media Holiday for a good cause, anyway. One we could theoretically all get behind, regardless of political party, because who doesn't want to celebrate girls?! (I realize in reality it doesn't work out like that, but that's how I think it should be.)
I felt like maybe I should be participating, you know, to elevate my daughter and myself and be a good female-empowered role model and whatnot. I mean, I like the idea of celebrating women, raising them up, making things a little more equal worldwide. Or maybe I just really like an excuse to post pictures of my daughter! Since we were home today, I took a few pictures and then posted a few online. I only tagged one (on my public Insta) as for International Women's Day, because honestly it otherwise seemed like overkill. It didn't get a lot of attention, even though I really liked it- both as a photograph, and the message. (That's pretty standard for my photos. They don't get a lot of attention). I felt good about that contribution to a Social Media Holiday.
But then I got to thinking... is there also an International Men's Day?
Now before you get all "Black Lives Matter / All Lives Matter" on me, that's actually not what I'm trying to do here. In general I'm fine with the BLM movement; I get that they need the attention on the worth of their lives more than white people do right now, and I don't feel threatened by it. "All Lives Matter" does feel a bit whiney, like seriously, just let them have the spotlight for a bit here. So I don't think International Men's Day needs to be a clapback to International Women's Day. But, I am the mom of a little girl... and two boys. And those two boys might have been born into a world where, as white males, their odds of coming out on top are better than average. But they didn't create that world. And if I raise them right, they'll use their "power" for good, for the betterment of all people, and live in a world where things are more equal.
Shouldn't good men, doing that work, be celebrated too? Can the celebrations just co-exist as both super awesome things without one taking away from the other?!
Just as what it means to be a woman is being slowly redefined and women are seeing themselves as strong, smart, and capable in a variety of new roles, so are men. Men are seeing themselves as more involved caregivers and fathers than ever before. Men are (beginning to) see themselves allowed to be more comfortable in their emotions. Men are treating women with the respect they deserve instead of seeking power over them. The culture of toxic masculinity is slowly giving way to a more real, I would say even stronger, masculinity. I happen to think this should be celebrated as well.
So I googled, "Is there an International Men's Day?"
There is. It's in November! And apparently it's been around since the 1990's! And according to the wikipedia summary, it's about celebrating those very things I just mentioned! (Or at least that's what I got out of it. I'm just waiting for people to come along and ruin it.)
For whatever reason, it isn't much of a Social Media Holiday. Or if it is, it sure wasn't apparent in my newsfeed. Luckily, I can celebrate a day the way that I want, for what it means to me, regardless of what other people might make it out to be. So, if I should manage to remember it the next time it comes around, I'll post a picture of my boys. Because they are good boys, who are learning how to be good men. And that is worth celebrating, too.
In the meantime, here's to International Women's Day! Here's to strong women! May we know them. May we be them. May we raise them!
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| "I am woman, hear me ROAR!" |
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