Most young men and women today have a mixed group of friends and colleagues that seems so natural that it is almost impossible to think of an era where men and women being together for no reason wasn’t “normal”. While of course there might be a long way to go in terms of gender neutrality in the world, we cannot deny that India has covered a huge distance in a very short span of time. Things that probably took far longer for the rest of the world to accept, have in fact, either by way or rebellion or encouraged revolutionizing, become conveniently normal for us.

Yes of course it is women’s day today and the entire world is rejoicing in celebrating the amazing identity of womanhood in unison…but somewhere, coming to think of it, we think that we’d like to steer away from this.

The fact that in the 21st century, we still need one separate day ear-marked in the year to celebrate women, makes us uncomfortable. No we’re not trying to pull some pseudo-feminist stuff here, nor are we undermining everything that every woman does for anybody apart from herself.

All we’re saying is that our entire life is made up of days that have a set of tasks that just have to be done for survival. Things like eating, sleeping, pooping, and such, cannot be avoided. And for almost everyone that walks the planet today, there has been a good number of years backing us where we couldn’t do these things by ourselves.

It was then that our parents, together, came to our rescue. While society, biology, and probably natural instincts as well, played a role in defining which partner took up what responsibility, it is not fair to dismiss either of them. We have this huge hype about ‘women’s day’ that led to someone somewhere coming up with the idea of a ‘men’s day’ but what we fail to understand, is why doesn’t anyone come up with a “human day”?

If we are to create an ecosystem where we want to bring about 100% equality, it is not possible, nor really recommended. Let’s face it. Men are generally speaking physically stronger than women, whereas women, can deal with far more than men at once, especially when it comes to emotional IQs and things like multitasking. That does not make one gender superior to the other, or vice-versa.

That’s just the way we were designed, and beautifully so! We are meant to complement each other in a way that is just so innately natural and befitting in almost every scenario. The problem, arises, when we begin to want the other to think, want, like, and feel, the same things as us. The saying ‘Women come from Venus, and men from Mars’, exists for a reason we suppose…

So if you truly want to honor the women in your life, let’s get a few things in place. While of course, the same holds true for all men that exist, the fact is that women are somewhere taken a bit more granted for when it comes to these things. So here goes our one step forward towards sustainable feminism.

1. Know that the women in your life are independent individuals as well. They play the roles of mother, sister, lover, boss, secretary, cook, maid, friend, co-worker, and more, but that does not define them. They are all these things, and more, and must be respected and freed to find a balance in each of these roles in their lives as well, not only be there to fulfill and excel at the ones your approve of, or enjoy.
2. Women can take care of themselves. Yes there is a big bad world outside, but it is beyond time that you understand that your fears and anxieties are only crippling your women from experiencing the world that has so much more to offer than the terrible stories splashed across the news and media every now and then. Yes, there are bad things that happen to people, but those happen to both men and women, and if we continue to only suppress the latter, we are leading extremely lopsided lives, than need to change.
3. A woman at home can do just as much, if not more, than what a man can at his office desk, in an entire day, and trust us when we say that this is an understatement. Again, we are not undermining the effort of anyone here, it is just that once more a man walks home to his wife saying that she’s done nothing all day to be tired about, he should probably swap places with her for a week and then say the same thing.
4. There is a crowd of people that are going to want to erase this one, but the truth is…Women may not want to choose to be mothers or wives even, and that is okay! Like we said a little while ago, women are just women, who might play the role of a mother when she becomes one. Don’t judge her for not choosing that role if she doesn’t want it. We never go around judging men for not wanting to be husbands or fathers, so why the prejudice against women? Just because they can give birth to a child, does not make her obligated to do it.
5. Lastly, irrespective of gender, we need to understand that to flourish as a society, we need to give each other the space to explore, experience, and experiment with the world. We are all supposedly given a limited amount of time here, and that time comes without a defined itinerary. While it is normal for certain things to be done by certain ages, it is not mandatory.

Please give your men, and especially your women, the freedom to experience the wonders that this world has to offer. Don’t bind them in relationships, responsibilities, and tasks that they might not be up to. Every individual is different in their own special ways. Try to get to know the women in your lives for who they are, stripped off all the titles around them. You would be amazed to find that within the deepest, darkest, most suppressed corners of their hearts, still beat the wildest, craziest, most outrageous aspirations that can still be pursued.

Women have been there for us for as long as we can remember. Take this women’s day, to be there for them too. Release those dreams and let them take flight to soar the highest skies. That’s really the least we can do.