IWD originated a little more than a century ago with a specific focus on women's suffrage. These days it seems to be more of an opportunity for American politicians (particularly of the leftist persuasion) to demagogue "women's issues" in this country. What's disconcerting to me is the issues being peddled are an alleged gender pay gap (one where actual statistics are often taken out of context) or the fact birth control isn't being subsidized by taxpayers. Meanwhile in some countries, women are brutally beaten on a consistent basis if they're not dressed modestly enough.
Nicole Russell at Conservative Review offers up some perspective.
With knowledge at our fingertips, it’s not enough to live in America and tweet that the Empire State Building is magenta for the day. We must do more. In this brief video, the Thomas Reuters Foundation describes the five most dangerous countries for women (hint, none of them are in North America). In the five most dangerous countries for women to live — Afghanistan, Congo, Pakistan, India and Somalia — crimes against women range from forced child marriages, rape, genital mutilation and honor killings, to name a few.
While it’s fine to discuss ways we — even in America — can make things better for women, it’s important to maintain proper perspective and keep in mind there are real women fighting injustices beyond comprehension in much of the world. This alone should spur us to eschew whining and complaining about petty things and band together to make the world a safer, more inclusive place, for women.
From a personal perspective I've never felt that, in my near 47 years on this earth, women weren't on at least equal footing as men. My maternal grandmother lost her husband when she was 48 years old, and thus was left behind with two daughters still in high school and a business they owned. Despite that, grandma continued to run the business (a supper club) while finishing raising her daughters and even helping them through business school. One of those daughters (my mom) got married when she was 22 years old, only to go through a divorce eight years later and be left to raised two boys (ages 3 and 1) entirely on her own. Never one to openly lament her circumstances, mom worked diligently at 3M for more than 30 years and was able to retire in financial dignity while raising two boys to become upstanding, respectable citizens. During those years, she even purchased her own home while assisting me financially with college.
Now, am I saying my mom didn't face any injustices? Of course not. The corporate culture in the 1970s wasn't exactly favorable to women. However, my mom thrived in many facets of her life because she willingly refused to be a victim. I'm hard pressed to think of many men who would have been able to accomplish what my mom did when faced with such adversities.
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