A woman writer writing for The Daily Star on the occasion of International Women's Day? Is this symbolism par for the course, gently egged on by the male editor of this reputable newspaper, or are we breaking new ground? You must admit, dear reader, that few women are really interested in the answer to that question even if they're the ones asking it.
The point is, we've already moved on. Ever since Sheryl Sandberg reiterated the age-old call for “women of the world to unite” by asking us to “lean in”, we know we have nothing to lose but our chains. That's why we can't pass up the opportunity to speak up.
Some of that feeling must ignite the minds of women who want to keep pushing the envelope wherever they work – at home or outside. The bottom line that moves us all is the question, “How relevant is what I'm doing to the world around me?” And, “What else can I do so I can influence my context?” Most of all, “How can I make a difference?'
So on this Women's Day, let's take a look at figures for women on top in the workforce, globally. Needless to add, they're abysmal. Out of 190 countries, only 9 have women as heads of state or government – Bangladesh is one of them – and not __more than 13 percent parliamentarians are female. The corporate sector hardly fares better, with the number being a mere 15-16 percent. Even the non-profit world only has 20 percent women as bosses.
Of course, some of these figures don't tell the full story. For example in South Asia, which had some of the first female heads of state/government in the world -- like Indira Gandhi in India, Sirimavo Bandaranaike in Sri Lanka, Benazir Bhutto in Pakistan and Sheikh Hasina in Bangladesh.
In India, the federal nature of the polity makes the issue __more complex – and interesting. The head of most major political parties, save the ruling BJP, is female. Sonia Gandhi of the Congress, Mamata Banerjee of the Trinamool Congress, Mayawati of the Bahujan Samaj Party, formerly Jayalalithaa (and Sasikala) of the AIADMK…Only the DMK in Tamil Nadu and the Janata Dal (United) in Bihar are headed by men.
But despite all these women on top, which presumably means they have the power to influence and change the socio-economic conditions of their provinces – the fact remains that commensurate changes in maternal or infant mortality or health and education indicators are totally absent.
The recently concluded elections in India are a case in point. For example in Uttar Pradesh, India's largest state, certainly half the 220 million electorate is female. And yet, not one issue that directly affects this population became an election issue.
So we will discuss the Muslim population (18 percent), the Dalit population (20.5 percent), the number of Yadavs and other backward castes and those on other parts of the totem pole . . . We will look at “development” and whether it has come to the Prime Minister's Lok Sabha constituency in Varanasi. We will ask whether Dimple “bhabhi”, wife of outgoing chief minister Akhilesh Yadav is a good “bahu” or not….
Dimple, of course, plays the shy daughter-in-law role to perfection, addressing rallies and asking voters for “munh-dikhai” for votes – a particular form of retrogressive behaviour, when the daughter-in-law first “shows” her face to the in-law community after she's married and gets rewarded in return (for what, I've always wondered).
Lalita Panicker, who heads the Opinion pages of the Hindustan Times in India, puts it succinctly. “Unlike a caste vote or a Hindu/Muslim vote, there's no such thing as a woman's vote, because women will vote according to caste or region or religion. They don't have a collective voice and don't come together on one platform. Because they are fragmented, they don't have collective might,” she said.
Part of the problem why women politicians aren't as determined to change things is because several are daughters and wives of their powerful male relatives – certainly, Sonia Gandhi and Benazir and Chandrika Kumaratunga (daughter of Sirimavo Bandaranaike, who in turn was the wife of her husband-prime minister) belong to that set. But for all those who aren't, like Mamata Banerjee and Mayawati, why don't they put their powerful stamp on socio-economic indicators, whether maternal mortality or access to schools and primary health centres?
Perhaps part of the answer is that the hurly-burly of politics is so tough that when women rise to the top, they reach there despite the toughest odds. If they cannot maintain that winning spree, they will be out in a trice. It's all very well to talk of gender equality in politics, but not if there are very few women in a man's world.
India has an answer to that conundrum, but at the lower panchayat level, where women have 50 percent reservation. Already, things are changing there in unforeseen ways. But higher up, at the provincial or parliamentary levels, male politicians cutting across party lines continue to gang up together to prevent reservation for women.
So what can we do to change this state of affairs, this International Women's Day? Name and shame, for a start. Let's call out these men, one by one. Let us ask for quid pro quos. Let us start, today.
The writer is an independent journalist based in New Delhi, India.