MY MAIDEN column, Woman Lens, published by Panay News, came out on March 8, 2019. Oh yes, on International Women’s Day no less!
I thank God I followed my instinct because someone cautioned me then that I might not be able to meet the weekly deadline. When he said that, my instant thought was: “Really? I couldn’t deliver even if I had written a column for a local newspaper in General Santos City for six to seven straight years?”
Ah, but this person had zero idea of my passion, discipline, and commitment to column-writing. Added to that, he’s not a writer so he doesn’t know anything about my discipline. Just the same, I thank God I followed my gut feeling. Never ever doubt your instinct.
Thus, on my fourth year anniversary, I want to celebrate everyone I had interviewed for Woman Lens – woman and man alike; those who have written snippets to support my candidacy in the May 2022 elections; the generous sources of my stories; even those who hurt me – betrayed me, angered me, made me happy that moved me to write about those experiences; and the upcoming stories that I still need to craft because a writer only stops writing when he or she passes. As long as one is alive, the articles will keep coming.
In relation to the topic, International Women’s Day (IWD) is celebrated on March 8, 2023. Based on historical accounts, IWD came about when women organized activities in the early 20th century particularly between 1909 and 1911, where working women in the USA participated in strikes initiated by the National Women’s Trade Union League and other concerned groups to protest the low wages, lack of protective legislation, and the very poor working conditions of women workers at the time.
According to the Philippine Commission on Women (PCW) website, a fire ensued at Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York City in March 1911 killing more than 140 working girls, mostly Italian and Jewish immigrants. This tragedy spurred demonstrations, and consequently, “inhumane working conditions and other unfair labor practices leading up to the disaster were invoked during observances of IWD.”
In Europe at the time, “Clara Zetkin and the Socialist Women’s International demanded that March 8th be International Women’s Day” to be commemorated each year to honor working women around the world. Not only that, IWD fired up major historical events including inspiring the general strike prompting “the Russian Revolution in St. Petersburg in 1917 with 10,000 women textile workers joining the demonstration”, the PCW website further explained.
Since we are celebrating Women’s Month, it’s also fitting to mention the 2023-2028 Theme of the celebration thus: It “marks a juncture in the advancement of women’s rights as it launches a new recurring theme from this year to 2028:
“WE for gender equality and inclusive society. It sparks a renewed commitment to the advocacy and banks on the gains achieved during the 2016-2022 theme, WE Make CHANGE Work for Women, which emphasized the need for compassionate and harmonized networks towards gender equality and women’s empowerment (GEWE).”
PCW further states “WE stands for Women and Everyone.” “WE also stands for Women’s Empowerment.” This can “only be achieved when agencies, mechanisms, institutions, private partners, and duty-bearers from the national to the local level provide women equal rights and opportunities, and women take these opportunities to further themselves.” “Gender equality is the first half of the GEWE advocacy.” “Thus, the theme is a call for urgent action to double the efforts toward this absolute aspiration.”
Finally, PCW urges an “inclusive society – not only a gender-responsive society – that overrides differences in SOGIE, class, ability, generation, status, and culture; a society where every individual, each with rights and responsibilities, has an active role to play. Equality and inclusion go hand-in-hand in the GEWE advocacy.”
Woman Lens will continue to push the advocacy if only to contribute my share in the achievement of a gender inclusive and gender fair society. I would say there is already an improvement compared to my younger days when my gender was discussed during the hiring process because accordingly, the job required traveling and being a woman, I was thought to be less active when I get pregnant, delivered my child, and so on. I am hoping that your gender will not hinder you from achieving your goals and aspirations.
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The writer hosts Woman Talk with Belinda Sales at 91.1 Balita FM Tagbilaran City every Saturday, 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. She can be reached at Belindabelsales@gmail.com. Twitter @ShilohRuthie/PN
