RAVE: International [Great] Women's Day

Today is International Women's Day. My rave for the day is a celebration of all the wonderful women of this world, both past and present.

It is exactly a hundred years since the idea of an annual International Women's Day was first proposed in Copenhagen. That was at a time when very few women were guaranteed any political rights, i.e. the right to vote, let alone equal property, pay, political and other socio-economic rights.

Women continue to battle to gain any semblance of true equality with men, even in the most so-called 'advanced' nations of the world. Women continue to have large pay disparities with men for like work in most countries, men continue to dominate the political arena in nearly all countries and men continue to be dominant in nearly all industry sectors, with a (very) few notable exceptions in some large corporations and, to a better extent, in medium-sized and small businesses. Again, men dominate even in areas where women fare better.

Amazing that these cliches still hold true as we enter the second decade of the 21st century.



Some things to consider:

- The first country to grant women the vote at the national level was New Zealand, only in 1893. Countries like the UK, USA, Austria, Sweden and others only followed suit in the aftermath of the First World War. Many may not know, but Switzerland only gave women the vote in 1971.
- The only country that continues to not allow their female citizens to vote in elections is that theocratic bastion of sexism and bigotry, Saudi Arabia. But they get away with it - all that oil and wealth that bedazzles so many in the West is a good excuse.
- The Holy See (Vatican State) is the only other country that doesn't allow women the vote - but neither do men have the right to vote there (they are a bunch of Catholic priests, after all) and spot the woman in the Vatican, win the prize.
- Kuwait, another highly bigoted and sexist society, only joined the modern world by granting women the right to vote in 2005.
- Women continue to earn less than men for like work in most countries. A 'Global Gender Pay Gap' report commissioned by the International Trade Union Confederation in 2008 found that there is an average 'pay gap' between women and men of over 15%, as averaged across 63 countries. Astoundingly, the report found that the older, more experienced and better educated the woman is, the greater the pay gap!

And the above is the tip of the very tip of the iceberg.

It's been said that the world would be better off if it were run by women. Perhaps. As long as they were not women who behaved worse than men just to get ahead (the heinous Margaret Thatcher anyone?) or women who tried to out-vulgarize men by proving they were 'tough' (the equally heinous Sarah Palin anyone?).

But a world run by some of the women that I admire would certainly make for a better place - the likes of Vandana Shiva, Ingrid Newkirk, Naomi Klein and Gloria Steinem come to mind. That type of women power would certainly make a difference after so many millenia of the unbelievable mess that is male-dominated power.

Yes, we men have a done pretty bloody awful job of it since time dot. Beg to differ?

However, a caveat: in my humble opinion, today should not be cause for celebration for all women. What was that, you ask? Yes, not all women deserve this day. There are too many out there who are a disgrace to their sex - the shallow ones, the money-grabbing ones, the bad mothers, the cows, the women who add nothing to this world. This is not your day, ladies. This is a day for those women who well and truly deserve it. The ones who are a credit to the fairer and better sex. The ones who make us men look plain bad.

That's why I'd rather dub this International Great Women's Day. I know many women who would agree with me on that.

So, here's to all the great women in the world. From the great women surviving the war in Afghanistan to the great women keeping their families alive from starvation in Zimbabwe, to every one of them and every other great woman in every corner of this world. This is your day.

To my mom, the very kindest, the very best woman in my world. Thank you, mom. To every woman that I have known and respected over the years. Thank you to all of you.

Today may not feel that special or all that different for many of these great women. I wish it would, somehow in some way. That's the very least they deserve.