Vishü Rita Krocha
Beginning from the first Saturday of March, International Women’s Week is celebrated worldwide leading to International Women’s Day that falls on March 8. This year, the International Women’s Week or Week of International Women’s Day runs from March 2 to 5.
The week celebrates women and their role in society, as well as how far they have come in fighting for equal opportunities. Women’s role in the society has always been so diverse. Beginning from the kitchen where they brew sumptuous meals to raising children and keeping them on track to living their dream careers, it is a lot for women to take in.
This multiple role they play everywhere around the world however often goes unnoticed. Whether they are placed in some remote corner of the globe or in the most developed city, similar stories of women who efficiently play the role of a home maker, a cook, a mother, and a professional, irrespective of what they do, shape the world.
In the words of Editor and Publisher of West Shore Voice, Mary P. Brooke—“We bear children! We nurture families and communities! We have the same wide range of talents and skills as men when participating in education and career opportunities. And most of the time, when in leadership, women bring a wider view of the human experience. This is to be celebrated, not sidelined.”
During a candid conversation on the multiple roles that women play with a distinguished woman literary critic from Nagaland, who retired as an Associate Professor, she was of the opinion that among all the things that women do, playing the role of a homemaker has got to be the hardest! And needless to say, also the least acknowledged despite them working 24x7.
Like anywhere across the country, our Naga society has also become so used to referring those women, who do not have so-called “proper jobs” as “just a homemaker”. This portrayal of women who actually have full-time jobs managing homes, cleaning, cooking, washing, caring, maintaining household budgets, shopping for groceries and everything else required at home, helping children do their homework, teaching, etc. etc., needs to change.
Women perform all these tasks and more without any expectation either for praise or pay. And after giving their all to ensure that everything is in place at home, the society still thinks she is just a homemaker; that, she does nothing and is enjoying a comfortable life at home. Come to think of it, without homemakers, most of whom are primarily women, our lives would be literally in shambles.
This International Women’s Week, can we just ponder over this crucial role that women play? And as a first step towards building equal opportunities for women to shine, maybe we can do away with the she-is-just-a-homemaker mindset and attitude, and begin our contribution towards a better and equal society by giving her every ounce of respect, acknowledgement and appreciation not because the occasion demands it but because she deserves every bit of it and more, today and everyday.
This is a guest editorial by Vishü Rita Krocha. She is the Publisher of PenThrill Publication and a senior journalist based in Kohima
