Women’s Day…

Yesterday was International Women’s Day. Do these “days” even matter any more? For sure, Valentine’s day has achieved a near cult status. But what about Mother’s day and Father’s day and the rest? Maybe it makes a difference if you have kids.

I come from a culture where everything is celebrated in a big way, we have festivals all months of the year. But it seems to me that as the years go by, people in general are more concerned with making a living than celebrating anything. The joy I used to see on the streets as a kid, with people wishing strangers and taking the day off to spend with family and friends is no longer there. Makes me nostalgic….and sorry for the kids of the next generation that wont grow up with the sweet memories I did.

Anyhow, I digress. The point of this post was to discuss women. Being a woman, I spent some time yesterday pondering about womanhood universally.

Has the life of the average woman improved over the centuries in all parts of the world? Given that women are not as oppressed as before, I’d have to say yes.

In a strange but true way, though, hasn’t life gotten harder for us women? We try to have it all, and thats a great thing. But is it uncomplicated? Simple? Easy? No.

Do we want the simple easy decisions of life that dictated that a woman’s place was at home? A big, definite NO. Id rather juggle career, family, being a wife, a daughter, a sister and a pet parent than have no choices at all. But does life still give as much freedom to women as it does to men? Unfortunately, the answer is still no.

That said, Im still a lazy girl. And all ye women’s lib feminists, do not condemn me if I sometimes want to forget about the stress of work and be at home, leave all the financial and “world outside” struggles to my husband and be a simple little housewife! Sigh! My hubby will be the first person to laugh if I say that. He knows I am only partially domesticated. Taking care of the house full time?? Ha! I admire those that do it, but so far Im not ready to join the ranks. I bore easily, and doing dishes and folding laundry top my list of hated chores. My floors do not always (???) get vacuumed in spite of dog hair, and all the sand my dogs track in (I swept up the backdoor entrance this morning and I had enough sand for a little kid’s sandbox!) make my porch look like a mini beach.

So….I would have to say, hard as it is to compete in the world of men, to try to pretend enthusiasm at work when the guys talk beer and cars just so I wont be left out, to read about things that dont always interest me, like building robots and the next great technology…..hard as it is, I wouldnt trade it for the kind of life my grandmother, probably even my mother in some respects, had. The lack of independence to go where I wanted or buy the smallest things, to dress as I like or sleep in once in a while would drive me nuts.

As Voltaire was called, I will also claim to be a bundle of contradictions. I want sometimes to stay home, have kids, take afternoon naps, sew clothes and learn the piano or something like that (T’is an impossible dream! What woman, with kids any age below 15, has the time to do any learning of hobbies???). At the same time, I want to be a go getter, successful in my career, financially independent and a woman who is capable of taking care of myself and, ironically, be the “son” my parents never had.

Like my sister says, Oh, I juggle! Is it really possible for me to have my cake and eat it too?

Are you a woman who has it all? How do you do it? Time to reflect….