Make it happen

Today is International Women’s Day. The day we take time to acknowledge and celebrate not just outstanding women who have contributed to history and advancement of the human race, but also every day women. That means you (if you identify yourself as a woman) and I (since I identify as one).

The theme for this year’s IWD is Make It Happen, which the internationalwomensday.com global hub is calling for “encouraging effective action for advancing and recognising women.”  In simpler words, Make It Happen stands for gender equality.

To me, the IT in the theme is all encompassing, especially on a personal level; the IT here being ANYTHING you want to make happen. So I asked myself what would I want to make happen, and here are four that to me are non-negotiable.

1. Respect

You would think as a fellow human being, women would be accorded due respect. But apparently this is a hard concept. How? Let’s look at this one argument.

Claim: Women’s bodies are often treated as though they are public property.

Example: Unsolicited wolf-calls, grabby hands

What this says: The idea of personal vs public space is disregarded when it comes to women; men (and some women) think that it is perfectly fine to comment on women’s bodies, the way they dress and the way they look.

2. Equality

Equal job, equal pay, am I right? No siree, says statistics. According to the National Statistics Department’s Salary and Wages Survey Report 2013, the gender pay gap stands at 18.8% for managerial level and 39.7% for skilled workers. Yes, Malaysia too suffers from the very malady Patricia Arquette spoke out against when accepting her Best Supporting Oscar this year.

3. No violence against women (VAW)

That this needs to be spelt out is in-of-itself disheartening for it further highlights the grim reality of VAW. Just this week, the world was rocked with the documentary India’s Daughter. If the story of Jyoti Singh’s horrific rape, assault and murder was not enough to chill your bones, the testimony of one of her rapists would make you lose all faith in humanity. If you think that this is an isolated case, rest assured it is not. Stories like these appear in almost every country in the world.

4. STOP asking women if they are trying to “have it all”

In the words of Leslie Knope, queen of my heart, “That question makes no sense. It's a stupid question. Stop asking it. Don't ask it.” Yes, ladies and gentlemen, STOP asking women if they are trying to “have it all”. First, do you ask men that? No. Next, why can’t a woman have a career and a family at the same time? Is there a law stating women can only pursuit a career or raise a family and not both; that it is a zero-sum game? If not, then STOP asking it.

In my super awesome home state of Penang, we have a month-long campaign called Make It Happen: A Better Penang For Women. Would it not be amazing if we could all join hands to Make It Happen: A Better World For Women?

Happy International Women’s Day, y’all! – March 8, 2015

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.