LEON LOUW AND GARTH ZIETSMAN: Should there even be a Women’s Day?

Should there be a Women’s Day? Maybe. The origins of Women’s Day are less about celebrating womanhood and more about acknowledging the struggle for gender equality. It commemorates the notable protests against injustice led by women and serves as a time to reflect on the unfinished business of achieving true equality and freedom.

In the US, women in needle trades (seamstresses) marched through New York City’s Lower East Side on March 8 1908, their Women’s Day date, to protest against child labour and sweatshop conditions, and to demand the vote.

In SA, 20,000 women marched on the Union Buildings to protest against the pass laws on August 9 1956, hence that being our public holiday date.

The escalation of countless remembrance dates worldwide, more than one for every day of the year, suggests demand for them, and that they serve some obvious or bizarre purpose.

On Women’s Day, we are reminded of the pivotal moments in the fight against gender injustice and the associated tragedies. But does explicitly recognising women suggest that only women have stood against gender injustice? Many men have also fought for just causes, often making great sacrifices. So, should there also be a Men’s Day?

Commemorative days do not deny the heroism and struggle for justice by other groups. Women’s Day serves as a reminder that women have not been mere bystanders in the course of history. Given that history books are predominantly written by men, they might not fully capture the contributions of women.

Those unfamiliar with the history of Women’s Day might equate it to Mother’s Day and wonder, “Since there’s a Father’s Day, why isn’t there a Men’s Day?” Given the ample recognition of men’s contributions, the need for a dedicated Men’s Day is arguably less pressing. Even so, International Men’s Day is in fact recognised on November 19 in 175 countries. 

The case for greater recognition of Women’s Day than Men’s Day is that gender-specific discrimination is more common against women in most countries, and throughout history. It could be argued that in the Americas and Europe, gender discrimination has been defeated, so Women’s Day is a celebration rather than part of a cause.

However, even in the enlightened West, with compulsory equality, there is believed to be a gender “wage gap”. Women are believed to work more for less. But if that were true, capitalists of both genders could increase profits by hiring women. Eminent economists such as Thomas Sowell have undertaken direct comparisons and found equality, perhaps thanks to earlier women’s movements.

Studies show that there are group differences on average, but in direct comparisons between identical circumstances such as experience, qualifications, output and skill levels, there are no significant differences. Instead of lamenting inequality where there is none, the triumph of women’s rights can be justly celebrated on Women’s Day.

For instance, more than half of all university students and graduates are now women. As recently as 1896 the famed Dr Maria Montessori was the first woman allowed to graduate from a faculty of medicine and practise medicine in Italy.

Sometimes, women are beneficiaries of affirmative action and unrecognised bias, as demonstrated in a music audition study. Under “blind” conditions, men and women were judged equally competent. But when gender was known, both male and female judges favoured female musicians.

There are calls for special measures against gender-based violence. Why is seldom explained. After all, men are four times more likely to be victims of violence than women. The problem is that women are victims of special kinds of gender-specific violence. Men are far more commonly violent than women, and their violence is directed mainly at other men because men inspire hostility. That is why women who resort to violence are also more likely to target men.

Latter-day woke values oppose Women’s Day because specifying a gender supposedly excludes and oppresses trans and nonbinary LBGTQ+ people. The absurdity of woke is that if taken to its logical conclusion anything woman-specific would be banned. There would be no women’s sport, clubs and societies nor women’s facilities, clothing sections in shops, showers, fashions or clothing sizes. Since Women’s Day celebrates women being women it is inherently anti-woke.

Special days are often denounced as a marketing gimmick, as if there is something wrong about creative marketing. Far from consumers being “exploited” by special days, they enjoy opportunities to honour and celebrate anything from the profound to the trivial.

Those who object to there being a Women’s Day live behind a veil of ignorance about how many special days they are up against. There are more than 2,000 special days, weeks and months, for which there are online calendars. They range from being serious, religious or solemn to being silly fun. It might be significant that Wiggle Your Toes Day — yes there is such a day — is the day before Woman’s Day. Single Working Women’s Day coincides appropriately with Choc Chip Cookie Day.

Nature lovers take Clouded Leopard Day, Butterfly Day and Owl Awareness Day seriously. Apnoea Awareness Day, Laughter Day and Lemonade Day coincide. There are days for Houseplants, Poetry, Cherry Pie, Pistachio, Pi (yes for mathematicians), Extraterrestrial Abductions, Scrabble, Cat Hugs, Hot Dogs (yes, many are for food), Books, Left-Handers, Pizza, Talk Like Pirates, Ice Cream, Clean Fridge, Inspiration, Dyspraxia, White Wine, Valentine’s, No Coffee, Seagrass, Combating Dust Storms, Steelpan, Toilet, Heart, Impotence, Black Literacy, Organ Donor, Alzheimer’s, Condoms, Entrepreneurship, Black Women Artists, Dystrophy, Chastity, Marriage, Kindness, Cycling, Fertility, Biodiesel, Introverts, Migraine, Neurodiversity and 2,000 more.

There are 21 days for women’s issues, such as Missing Indigenous Women and Girls Day. Women in Blue Jeans Day is taken so seriously that it is banned in North Korea. Most are reminders of how gruesome discrimination can be, such as Zero Tolerance for Genital Mutilation. Others include Elimination of Violence, Women in Science, Women Judges, Widows, Rural Women and Equal Pay.

Some days are reserved for rare people, such as Women Astronauts Day. May 19 is Inflammatory Bowel Disease Day. Perhaps mercifully, Beer Day and Angling Day are far apart. August 6 was recently proclaimed Social Engineering Day. There is a Breastfeeding Day; Black Business Month and Family Fun Month; a Child Vision Awareness Month, Golf Month and Pinball Day.

That there are so many special days suggests the idea has inherent significance. There is an obvious free market demand for special days, which is matched by supply. That they range from loony and lovely to solemn might say much about what culture requires. A few such days are well-known and popular, including Valentine’s or Father’s Day, and, of course, Women’s Day. The legitimacy of Women’s Day and other days became apparent to us as we wrote and researched, having started as sceptics.

In much of the world beyond the free West the women's liberation project remains essential because most of the world’s women still suffer gender discrimination. For them, there should be a special Woman’s Day annually. In SA we have constitutionally mandatory gender equality, yet in many communities women might still not qualify for tribal land or inheritance. The full implications of traditional laws and courts remain contentious.

Our conclusion is that Woman’s Day is to be celebrated, not for any specific incident, but for a wide range of women’s past, present and future accomplishments and concerns.

• Louw is CEO and Zietsman consulting statistician at the Freedom Foundation and Izwe Lami.