Today is International Women’s Day, and the FXU are celebrating and raising awareness all week for International Women’s Week – check out the programme of events here! From screenings of films directed by and starring women and debates surrounding various aspects of gender and feminism, to holding seminars, workshops and lectures on topics such as white feminism, our Student Union are taking a really active approach to giving this week some serious visibility. But, predictably, on Fitfinder yesterday I saw the post: “#InternationalMensWeek”, and it really ground my gears.
It’s incredibly frustrating that, in 2016, there are still a significant number of people who don’t understand the concept of privilege. This obviously isn’t an issue concentrated on our campus alone. There are plenty of angry men on Twitter, screaming into the void as they ask, “But where is International Men’s Day?!”
Perhaps we should indulge them: Why is it so important to celebrate International Women’s Day? Why isn’t International Men’s Day (it exists, and it’s on November 19th) celebrated to the same extent every year? Isn’t this “reverse sexism”?!
Identity Privilege is broadly defined as “any unearned benefit or advantage one recieves in society by nature of their identity. Examples of aspects of identity that can afford privilege: Race, Religion, Gender Identity, Sexual Orientation, Class/Wealth, Ability, or Citizenship Status.” The concept of privilege is incredibly complicated, because it’s so intersectional. Some people are privileged in some aspects of their life, perhaps by being white, but oppressed in others, by being female, for example. By the very nature of identity privilege, chances are most people have never known their life to be anything but the way that it is, and so they find it difficult to appreciate where and when they have privilege.
Those who ask why International Men’s Day doesn’t recieve the same amount of recognition as International Women’s Day fundamentally fail to understand the existence of male privilege. International Women’s Day draws attention to the oppression around the world of girls and women who are denied access to education, to workplaces, and to positions of power. It sheds light upon the women who don’t have a voice, and the histories and achievements of women that are largely ignored. It exists to encourage and empower girls and young women to be assertive, to branch into fields that have been inaccessible for women in the past. It’s important, because women are still subject to gender oppression.
Mirroring these people who take issue with International Women’s Day are those people who contested the #BlackLivesMatter movement, and opted to replace it with #AllLivesMatter, beginning with democratic candidate Martin O’Malley. Despite the fact that people of colour are literally being shot dead because of the colour of their skin, #AllLivesMatter completely bypassed the issue of racism and instead championed so-called “equality”. The perfect analogy for why this is so problematic comes from Reddit:
“Imagine that you’re sitting down to dinner with your family, and while everyone else gets a serving of the meal, you don’t get any. So you say, “I should get my fair share.” And as a direct response to this, your dad corrects you, saying, “Everyone should get their fair share.” Now, that’s a wonderful sentiment — Indeed, everyone should, and that was kinda your point in the first place: that you should be a part of everyone, and you should get your fair share also. However, dad’s smart-ass comment just dismissed you and didn’t solve the problem that you still haven’t gotten any!”
What the #BlackLivesMatter vs. #AllLivesMatter situation demonstrates is how a group of white people incorrectly saw a movement for an oppressed group as a group placing themselves in a superior position. Rather than seeing #BlackLivesMatter as a statement saying “Please afford people of colour the same rights as white people”, they incorrectly saw it as a statment saying “People of colour are better than white people”, because they failed to understand their own privilege.
Similarly, International Women’s Day exists for an oppressed group. It doesn’t say that women are better than men, but it draws attention to the ways in which women are, and have been, victims of discrimination.
I’m definitely not suggesting that men aren’t also affected by sexism. As I’m writing this, I can hear the voice of my younger brother, from when he was in his “I’ll argue with everything Amy ever says” phase. He’d say something like “But there’s sexism towards men too, because women are way more likely to win custody battles when couples get divorced.” This hypothetical statement from my brother isn’t wrong. This is a real issue, but it’s not an example of “reverse sexism”. Women are more likely to win custody battles because women are still seen as the natural care givers. They’re still associated with the domestic sphere, with children and cooking and cleaning, and so judges are more likely to grant them the rights to custody than male partners. That’s the patriarchy in action, folks. A.k.a an aspect of gender oppression.
International Men’s Day doesn’t need to exist, in the same way that we don’t need to have a White People’s History Month, we don’t need #AllLivesMatter instead of #BlackLivesMatter, and we don’t need Straight Pride. Because these groups are in positions of privilege, every day is International Men’s Day, and every month is White People’s History Month and Straight Pride – the visbility isn’t needed, because it’s already there.
International Women’s Day is not promoting female superiority. You can celebrate International Women’s Day and it doesn’t mean that you think that women are better than men. What it does mean is that you support gender equality, and you support attention being drawn to the places where women are still subject to oppression.