by Alex Tabisher
National Women’s Day is a South African gesture towards the 20 000 women who marched on August 9, 1956 against the wearing of the pass book, an indignity they were no longer prepared to tolerate. They chose a Thursday, because traditionally black domestic workers were free on this day.
Those resourceful ladies beat the ban on gatherings by configuring their marching groups into small enough units not to raise the ire of the police.
We were given the universal slogan: you strike the woman, you strike the rock. We remember the leaders: Lilian Ngoyi, Helen Joseph, Albertina Sisulu and Sophia Williams-de Bruyn. The (white) prime minister at the time was JG Strydom.
I like to think of my column as accessing a wider than local audience, positing notions of improved relationships and communication. This celebration is more than a defiant gesture against narrow, Calvinistic, chauvinistic bias towards women in general.
I remember Rosie Parks, Joan of Arc, the Suffragettes.
The dictionary defines a woman as: an adult female human being, as distinguished from man or girl; a female employed to do household duties; a wife or female lover (see note on “lady”); as an adjective, she is female as opposed to male. Old English has her as wiffman, hence the connotation of wife.
It is significant that the very next word after woman and its variables is womb.
Oddly, it just means a safe place. One is referred to uterus elsewhere in the dictionary to make the connection between womb and woman.
As usual, I ask the question: Where am I going with this? It is the sadness I feel when we need to make gestures for our partners to reassure them of their place in the sun.
The creationist theory tells us in Genesis 3:20 that Eve was the first woman and companion of Adam. Faith-based texts tell of the woman as partner to the man, who endured loneliness before she came.
And here is the burden of my song: that we celebrate Woman’s Day, International Woman’s Day, Mother’s Day and Independent Woman’s Day throughout our calender year.
The dictionary meaning creates categories that make her second to, or slightly lower than the man.
In fact, many social rituals demand that the woman be constantly reminded of her “place”, a place that is not well-defined except when she is identified as the only being capable of perpetuating her species. She even loses her mother’s surname.
Marriage rituals require her to wear a ring or other form of “marking”. Not so the man. We don’t need political slogans against gender violence.
A society that marginalises women halve their potential. Learn to love, share and enjoy the woman in your life, whether she be mother, sister, wife, aunt, niece, grandmother, teacher, instrument tutor, au pair, companion.
Celebrate women every day.
* Literally Yours is a weekly column from Cape Argus reader Alex Tabisher. He can be contacted on email by [email protected]
** The views expressed here are not necessarily those of Independent Newspapers.
Cape Argus
Do you have something on your mind; or want to comment on the big stories of the day? We would love to hear from you. Please send your letters to [email protected].
All letters must have your proper name and a valid email address to be considered for publication.
IOL is committed to freedom of speech as long as it is not derogatory or harmful to others.
Connect with us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram to join the conversation.