International Women's Day

Dear gentle doves,

So, being the first time commemorating the International Women's Day; I attended a public lecture on the AU@50 - the role of women in social development presented by the Thabo Mbeki Institute and Unisa on friday evening.

What a liberating and empowering experience it was. To fellowship with yound and old  inspiring women  talking the role of women in the development of Africa over the years.

While I was quite intrigued with the discussion which put some things into perspective. There were also frustrating moments, where I discovered that there's still a lot to be done with regards to how women are perceived, and what is expected of them vs, what they are capable of and deserve. Unfortunately, I left the lecture with more questions than answers:

• What is my role as young African woman in driving social change my community?
• Why do we as African women, time and time again, have had to justify our existence as if it's something out of the ordinary?
• Why do we have to justify our rights, as if we're the exception when it comes to human rights.
• Why do men feel threatened by our progression, is it really because women change or that men have become accustomed to being the superior sex?
• Why must the empowerment of women be viewed as a compromise over men. Are we really that inferior that a company or institution would view the empowerment of women as a compromise for compliance purposes?
• Not to mention the issue of culture, which really is conveniently used to perpetuate stereotypes and injustices against women.

So, in the end, I realised that we've still got a long way to go before we women are recognised for who they are, and are treated with the respect and honour they deserve. And since, this is the case; I've yet to define what the day meant for me. I suppose, I'm distraught at the social injustice that still exists in our society, and how I and millions of other women are affected by it.

If you, in your own space, have defined what this day means to you. Please share with us, what it means to you.

Also, follow this link to find out what it means to other women in the continent.
http://www.msafropolitan.com/2013/03/what-does-womens-day-mean-to-african-bloggers.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Msafropolitan+%28MsAfropolitan%29

With love,
Lady B!