Today is What?
Today International Women's Day in the US is being honored with A Day Without Women.
When I first heard the idea, I outright laughed. "What, I'm supposed to stop existing for a day? That seems a little counter-intuitive!" I said. I still think it's counter-intuitive. At some point (when I am not writing about Crusoe, Locke, and other pressing topics) I plan to have at least one post about feminism. At the moment, I'd just like to say a brief word on the idea of a Women's Strike.
Three Concerns
First, I think it has more potential to hurt than to help women. What about the women in healthcare, especially the ones who specifically serve women with their work? What about the women who work in battered women's shelters? Do they strike for the sake of having a day that women can call a help line and get no answer? What about women who work with children? Dear Feminists, have you considered the message that you are sending to your daughters when you strike from caring for them because that will "show" men? I'm concerned that you are loudly declaring to them that they are not worth it. The message you are sending is that until she becomes an adult, or at least a teenager who is old enough to care for herself and make her own decisions, she is a burden that has been forced on you by virtue of your womanhood. Ladies, how do you expect this little girl to grow up with a sense of dignity and self-respect?My second concern is that such a move reflects and caters to women in western, first world countries, and they do not seem to be the ones who need feminism the most. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought feminism was about fair, dignified treatment of women? If this is the case, shouldn't the priority be the advancement of women and girls who live in countries where they have no access to education, where they are bought and sold as property, and who are taught from the day they are born that their only worth is in their sexuality? Does your strike somehow enable them to take a day off of the treatment they are given? Does your strike affirm that you see them, that you care about them, and you want to make their world a better place? Isn't it a little embarrassing that Women's Day is becoming a day for first world feminism to flaunt its privilege in the faces of oppressed women who need what the feminist movement has historically fought for? I'm concerned that your strike sends a message that a woman's value is in her work and her ability to control and manipulate others through her work. Maybe instead of striking you should live and act in a way that proclaims that the innate value of women is not found in their success, or how noticeable they are, or in their control over their environment. If you affirm the value of women, please do so in such a way as to affirm the value of women who are oppressed.
And finally, perhaps I'm missing something, but is there a point to all this? Protesting with no clear goal, while it may be popular, is truly ridiculous. Once you do have a goal, your protests will mean so much less because your complaints are becoming a white noise. Oh, it's International Women's Day? It's the Day Without Women? I hadn't noticed. We live in a society that has gotten so used to the protests, the posts, the hats, the "awareness," that people hardly notice anymore, nor should they. Change doesn't come through generalized protests. Change comes when you identify and clearly articulate a problem that needs to be fixed, and a solution for that problem. Dear feminists, no one knows who you are, what you stand for, or what you're asking for. Figure yourselves out, and get back to us, please.
Can I Make a Suggestion?
I think a Women's Strike is a problematic idea. In addition to the concerns I've already brought up, it's important to keep in mind that a day without women can't truly exist. Even if women vacate the workplace, stop volunteering, and collectively take a day off, women will still be somewhere. The world stands to benefit more from a day with women. Choosing not to strike affirms that women are irreplaceable.
When the only woman in a workplace decides not to show up for work, she's saying that she can accomplish more by not putting the effort into her career. She's saying that her male colleagues don't need her presence or input. She's saying that as a woman, she does a different kind of work, and by not showing up, she'll show them - women's work won't be accomplished at that office that day!
When the stay-at-home Mom decides to "strike" from raising her kids, she's saying that her work is not valuable enough for her to tough it out and keep working a sometimes thankless job. Her children can be nurtured just as well by an institution, and her daughter can learn their worth through someone else's example. She's saying that her work is a disservice to herself, thus defining herself by what she does.
When a woman "strikes" from regular volunteer work, she is saying that the only reason she volunteers is to affirm her own value. Ladies, surely we volunteer for better reasons than that?
Dear Women, we do have a place in the world God has created us for! He created Eve last, and he gave Adam an opportunity to keenly feel his need for a woman before bringing her into the world. Now that we're here, let's affirm that we have been created for a valuable purpose by rejoicing in whatever work we put our hands to, rather than protesting non-specified oppression through our absence. I believe that women have unique, irreplaceable value. For that reason, I will not be on strike today. In school, in work, and in service, I am going to do my part to make today a day with women.
