Whats wrong with women's day.
I woke up this morning & several people wished me Happy Women's Day. And I was mad. I was mad about people creating this day that is at the very heart of my issues with the society. Why do we need to have a women's day. We can have a people's day and celebrate the wonderful people in this world. I think women's day is still a way of discriminating. I don't care about women power. I believe in people power. I would love for the society to stop identifying me as a woman and start thinking of me as a living, breathing human, someone who is just like them.
I thought of all the people I idealized growing up and none of them were women. I idealized Bill Gates. I wanted to be like him.
I don't blame myself for this. I blame the women who could have been my role models but were not really that visible.
So I attended this amazing event by #WomenTechmakers for women's day @google. Amazing and inspiring speakers. I heard Pavani Divanji speak and I could relate to her. She could have been my role model growing up but I did not know about her. She is one of the several women who have been successful in her life, not because she was born of privilege but because she did not take no for an answer. It was through her and many other speakers I have come to realize that your gender, color, race does not really matter if you have the determination for that.
But I also realized that I could relate more to Pavani than to a male counterpart because she had similar experiences like me. I can take power from her and use that to propel my career. And its ok. I would be really happy when people come to an understanding that woman power does not mean that women are more powerful than men, it only symbolizes the inspiration that one great mind can give another.
You can't be what you can't see
So this women's day, I call out to the woman of the world. The women to celebrate this day, I ask you to come and tell the world what are you celebrating and who are you celebrating. It could be your 2nd grade teacher who taught you that no sky is too high, or it could be your mother who is juggling two jobs to ensure you get to go to school or it could be just a stranger you met at a conference who has fought the battles you are fighting right now and has won!
I call out to the society, make this women's day the day you believe in your daughter, your niece or that girl in your class. A woman can be anything she likes, a wife and a mom or a VP of engineering, or both. She can be somebody's hero.
