Why I have nothing to write about on the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day?

Because Hallmark does not make a card for this.

When I opened the newspaper this Sunday, ads with BIG SALES for International Women’s Day did not tumble out of the newspaper bundle. Well, because there was none.

It was not even an after thought here in the U.S. if it were not for the Interwebz, the Blogosphere and the Twitterverse. And for online magazines to come up with LISTS of Most Influential Women, Most Powerful Women, Women Who Inspired Us, yada yada yada, you know, just so all the frantic google searches by people who are trying to find something that they can blog, tweet and Facebook about today will lead to their websites. Traffic-generating content.

I guess the Google Doodle for the day also helped bring attention to the existence of an International Women’s Day to a lot of people.

But, seriously, if it were not for Daniel Craig, who as you would notice is a man, dressed up in a drag, the Interwebz would not have been buzzing about the 100th Anniversary of IWD as much. So men in drag sell. Got it.*

Women have a half day off in China every year on March 8. Just sayin’

I am still reeling from my vehement agreement with Stephanie Coontz who said in her interview on NPR that though women have undoubtedly made great progress since when Betty Friedan wrote The Feminine Mystique (1963), there seems to be, instead of “the Feminine Mystique” (or, as a cynic would argue, in addition to), “the HOT Mystique” nowadays:

Women are told, “Yes, indeed you can be anything you want, but, you also have to be hot while you are doing it!” And there is this tremendous pressure on young women… This can be very destructive to young girls when they are channeled into this sense. That, the way to empowerment is to display your sexuality.

 

What else? … Oh, of course, Texas. Can’t forget Texas. In honor of Internati0nal Women’s Day… Ok. I jest. Texas probably does not know nor care. Texas… sigh. I’ll let CNN tell you:

The state house approved the anti-abortion measure [that requires mothers seeking an abortion to undergo an ultrasound examination and listen to a description of what it shows] in a 107-42 vote Monday. And state senators backed a similar proposal last month. After a conference committee hashes out the details, Texas Gov. Rick Perry will have the final say.

 

To put everything else in perspective, here are some latest breaking news around the world:

Ivory Coast marches on International Women’s Day end in bloodshed

International Women’s Day Egyptian march met by men

Not a good day to google news with the keywords “International Women’s Day” really.

 

Sorry I have turned on my cynical pump full cylinder today. Turbo-Cynicism FTW! And really it is all my own fault. Nobody else to blame. I kept on seeing since this morning tweets that asked women to share their greatest accomplishments.

I thought long and hard. <– Elly, this one is for you. Who loves ya baby?!

I could only come up with “Gave births twice but only suffered acute birth pain for 15 minutes so probably did not count after all if you want to be all picky about it”. It’s that or “Managed to keep children alive longer than any pets i.e. fish I have had”…

Ok. Enough about me.

So… how’s everybody’s Fat Tuesday coming along?

 

 

* Don’t get me wrong. I love the promotional video for www.weareequals.org with Daniel Craig and Judy Dench narrating the facts and statistics. Here, I’ll prove it by putting the video right here.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkp4t5NYzVM

20 thoughts on “Why I have nothing to write about on the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day?

  1. Naptimewriting

    You know, one of the biggest lies of first wave and second wave feminism is that we can have it all. That is such painfully misleading bullshit. Why do we think studies who that women are more unhappy than men, and that mothers are the most unhappy? Because we’ve been sold a bill of goods. You cannot be great at your career and a great mother. Can’t do it. You can be great at your career and have a stay at home partner. You can be great at being a mother and not have much of a career. But it’s impossible to have an equal partnership, especially if you have children. There. I said it. Impossible. And that’s not antifeminism. That’s raging, angry, fighting, third-or-fourth wave “this is not acceptable let’s change it” feminism.
    Having it all is not the goal. Being told by men in the Texas legislature that I can’t make my own decisions because I’m too stupid to know what a fucking pregnancy means…that’s the goal.
    Yay for us today.
    %*(@&$^&*#)^$%^*#$(*@#$)^(*#&)&&**@#&*%

    Oh. Sorry. I mean “yay! go women!”
    Naptimewriting recently posted…The Pale King approachethMy Profile

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  2. Elly Lou

    *heavy breathing*

    And can I just say that I find it fascinating that a post I wrote about inequality turned into a comment-a-thon of parenting advice? Not that advice isn’t appreciated and most of it was even good advice. I just…find it fascinating that THAT is what people took away from the post. That the world is already jumping on this new way to define and categorize me. Please tell me this is just hormones and over thinking talking…
    Elly Lou recently posted…Are We EqualsMy Profile

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    1. Naptimewriting

      Not just hormones.
      If we express frustration about inequality it’s because of the techniques *we* fail to use. Try doing x, y, or z when you realize that a truly 50-50 partnership is impossible right now in our society. How very Good Housekeeping article from the 60s. I mean 70s. I mean 80s. I mean 90s. I mean 00s. I mean 10s.
      Naptimewriting recently posted…The Pale King approachethMy Profile

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  3. Andrea

    I had no idea until I started reading all your blogs, and now I’ve missed it! I guess I’ll have to wait until next year to celebrate women. Ha.

    Pathetic, isn’t it?
    Andrea recently posted…Fire BurningMy Profile

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  4. Wicked Shawn

    Is it really so much to ask that International Women’s Day not wear the face of a man? I understand the video, I like the video, but I can’t help be a bit infuriated by the fact the entire world spent the day talking about…….a man and how wonderful it was of him to sacrifice and dress like we are expected to do each and every day. I much prefer to keep my eyes on the accomplishments of the WOMEN involved in International Women’s Day.

    Today, however, I will go back to loving Daniel Craigs very existence.
    Wicked Shawn recently posted…Getting Wicked With MeMy Profile

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  5. Lies

    Yes, giving birth twice is undoubtedly your only accomplishment – seeing as you don’t combine a day-job with the household, never completed higher studies, let alone a PhD, didn’t move halfway across the world and built a new life, and you for sure never started a successful blog. And obviously all men have endured more birth-pain than you ever did.

    I get it – we are women, we’re supposed to not think about ourselves and just take care of others, our accomplishments are minute and not worth talking about – as if the men’s accomplishments are. I know you’re the queen of cynism (and we love you for it 🙂 ) and yeah, there’s a lot to be cynical about. But you’re raising the next generation of men right there – I’m sure you’re doing more than letting them believe the main accomplishment of their mum was to give way to her natural instincts.
    Lies recently posted…… and I’m not the only one- apparentlyMy Profile

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  6. Nance

    …and I’m sharing it on FB with a Hat Tip to ya.

    I know this won’t be a popular statement with the younger AofA crowd, but the minute the fashion merchandisers managed to sell stiletto heels to women again (by the fucking bazillions and made us beg for them), I knew we’d not made the kind of real, DNA-deep changes that our daughters deserve. The ball got dropped. A whole generation saw a bit of benefit from the hard work of their foremothers and didn’t realize they had to push it forward with all their strength. Hard to push in those shoes. I keep seeing women in movies try to run in those shoes; you can’t–not toward anything, not away from anything.

    BTW, have you ever seen the movie, “Iron-Jawed Angels”? I thought it was a biker flick the first time I heard the name. T’ain’t. And check out what my friend humorlessbitch humorlessbitch has to say on the subject.

    Yes, we need to work for the rights of our sisters in Saudi, in Somalia, but we need to start with our sisters in Sausalito.

    Sweethearts, this is not a critique; this is a baton being passed to…whom it may concern.

    Thank you for this soapbox. Sorry I fouled it.
    Nance recently posted…So Help Me- Smooth Operator EditionMy Profile

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    1. Absence Alternatives Post author

      Dearest Nance, thank you very much. Very well said, and it needed to be said. I will admit: guilty as charged. I do want to do it all and look hot while doing it all. I feel torn. When is the co-opted being the co-opter or the co-optee? Borrowing (and more likely, misappropriating) Audre Lorde’s words: ” “The Master’s tools will never dismantle the Master’s house”, using sexuality as empowerment, turning the table/mirror around, transforming the gazer into the gazed, etc etc. will always be problematic, and risking the danger of getting doubly co-opted.

      This here soap box has your name on it. (And Mary Lee’s! 😉 )

      Reply
  7. secret agent woman

    I didn’t even know about this day until yesterday. And then I saw this video on 2 other blogs and posted it on my own, wanting to mark the day in some way.

    And incidentally, I think giving birth counts even if you weren’t in terrible pain. 🙂
    secret agent woman recently posted…Sunday Night PartyMy Profile

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    1. Absence Alternatives Post author

      Thank you for the pep talk wrt. birth pain! 🙂

      I don’t think it’s a big deal here in the US. I didn’t see any “big to-do” until this year, and only on the Internet.

      Reply

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