Last week witnessed intense public debate over slogans and placards that were used in the Aurat March 2019. It is unfortunate that many episodes lacked intellectual checks and basic decency. In a society already struggling to accept women in other than traditional roles, as identified by patriarchal structures, discourses such as these serve no purpose. If anything, it is reflective of the mindset that women have long been fighting against.

And in this hullabaloo the focus seems to have shifted from what women across the country demand, and truly need. While experts and activists claim that some progress has been made over the past decade or so, several areas leave much to be desired. Equal opportunities for education, healthcare, employment as well as inclusion in several spheres of the society are still dreams that have yet to materialise.

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A section of the society continues to prey on assumed vulnerabilities of the women around them. As they continue in their attempts to cherry pick ‘all-that-is-wrong’ in making those demands, it should be known that this is not the first time women are fighting for their rights.

Susan Griffin, a feminist and a philosopher, is quoted to have once said, “I have seen enough change in my lifetime to know that despair is not only self-defeating, it is unrealistic.”

So as women across the country gear up to celebrate the International Women’s Day on March 8, perhaps it is time to look at all that women have achieved over the years, to celebrate their struggles and to look forward to a future of empowerment and autonomy.