Why We Have a Women’s Day
Different versions of a ‘women’s day’ started being observed as early as 1909[1] and the United Nations began celebrating the day in 1977, the same year I was born. 10-15 years ago, as a young woman in finance, I scoffed at all things that highlighted gender – believing that it is only an issue because we make it an issue. Then I grew up. I started taking on senior roles, joining decision making committees and boards and networking. I observed everything from discriminatory laws to simply habit driven exclusion. I have since experienced situations as extreme as people saying “you stand out too much”; or “we would be taking a huge risk appointing a woman in this leadership position” and even “we know you will be great at this job but we are culturally not able to give it to you”.
I did stop asking why we need a woman’s day. But it is a common question. People often ask about the need for a day and highlight, smugly, that having one is, in itself, arguably discriminatory. There’s no man’s day and there never was. Theoretically, that’s good logic given each of the genders represent roughly half the population.
In practice, however, whether we talk about voice share, power share, wealth share, pay share, workforce share or any other aspect of women’s contribution or representation globally, the ratios are so abysmal that without a proactive approach we will not be able to achieve fairness.
Its important to note that all this is of concern only to relatively privileged women in the workforce seeking advancement, leadership and equal pay. Looking at women across the spectrum paints an even bleaker picture. There are those we discuss above, from the relatively privileged tiers of society, facing inequality or discrimination in board rooms or job interviews. Then there are women from under privileged walks of society whose struggles are magnified by their gender. Importantly, women across the board face, on top of discrimination, outright abuse from inappropriate comments at the workplace to downright rape.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why we still need to have this day – to highlight the issues, to increase accountability and, sometimes, to celebrate.
[1] National Woman's Day held in New York City on February 28, 1909
[2] As of 29 November 2019
[3] World Economic Forum Global Gender Gap Report 2020
[4] 2019
[5] MSCI ASWI comprises 2,451 large and mid cap companies across 23 developed and 26 emerging Markets
[6] HBR.org, 2015
[7] World Economic Forum Global Gender Gap Report 2020
[8] World Economic Forum Global Gender Gap Report 2020