Today, Ukraine, along with the rest of the world, celebrates Women’s Day. All the shops are closed, people get together with families to drink and party and celebrate women and all they accomplish on a day to day basis. It’s kind of like Mother’s Day, except it includes all women who work daily to make the world a better place.
What’s interesting about this is that while Ukraine has magnified gender roles, there’s a day to appreciate these women who cook, clean, have jobs, and keep people’s houses in order. These women are, in an overly gendered way, superwomen. They’re the ones who keep families together, who keep their children and men clean and fed, and who work for money as well. They’re the ones who get the shit end of the deal, having to do all of this and yet still more than half of them are beaten by their husbands, disregarded by their children, and underpaid. You bet your ass Ukraine better give them a day to celebrate their accomplishments. This is one of those times that the United States can learn a little something from Ukraine. Not to say that women in the States aren’t appreciates, but maybe there should be a few more holidays to celebrate women’s accomplishments. I know we have Mother’s Day, but what about the women who aren’t mothers? When do they get to be appreciated?
I understand that the United States feels a need to be different. We have different measuring systems. We play to our own tune in international policy and societal norms. Maybe it’s time we start sharing common values with our international neighbors and appreciate the women, not just of America, who strived and achieved great things, but the women of the world as well.
Happy Women’s Day, my ladies! I love you all!
