“Women make up more than half of the world’s population and potential, so it is neither just nor practical for their voices, for our voices, to go unheard at the highest levels of decision-making.” – Meghan Markle
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If February is the month of love (due to February 14, which is Valentine’s Day), March is considered the women’s month. The reason: Every March 8, the international community observes International Women’s Day.
It all started in the 1980s in the United States when then President Jimmy Carter issued a statement asking for Americans to recognize women’s heritage in the U.S. during National Women’s History Week from March 2 to 8.
“I urge libraries, schools, and community organizations to focus their observances on the leaders who struggled for equality,” he said. “Understanding the true history of our country will help us to comprehend the need for full equality under the law for all our people.”
Other countries followed suit, including the Philippines. This year marks a significant milestone in the pursuit of gender equality and women’s empowerment in the country. For one, it commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Philippine Commission on Women (PCW). It is also the 45th year of the country’s signing of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.
Other reasons include: three decades since the introduction of the Gender and Development budget policy under the 1995 General Appropriations Act (Republic Act 7845) and the culmination of the 30-year Philippine Plan for Gender-Responsive Development.
“These milestones reaffirm the country’s long-standing commitment to advancing women’s rights and promoting inclusive development,” said the PWC.
The sub-theme of this year’s National Women’s Month Celebration (NWMC) is: “Babae sa Lahat ng Sektor, Aangat ang Bukas sa Bagong Pilipinas.” “This reinforces the core objective of RA 9710, or the Magna Carta of Women—to empower women, promote gender equality, and ensure equitable access to resources and opportunities,” the PWC said.
The Holy Scriptures indicate that the Lord God fashioned man “in His own image.” He bestowed upon Adam, the inaugural human, the authority to govern all of His other creations. However, God noted that Adam experienced solitude, as he was by himself.
Genesis 2:21-23 chronicled how the first woman was made: “So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and closed up the place with flesh. Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. The man said, ‘This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman’ for she was taken out of man.’”
The first marriage took place after that. Genesis 2:24 is perhaps the most-often quoted verse during weddings: “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.”
The Bible story came into my mind when I heard a little girl who was asked during a Sunday school if she knew the story of Adam and Eve. “Of course, I do,” she replied. “First God made Adam and then looked at him and said, ‘I think I can do better,’ so He created a woman.”
Here’s another version: A small child came home from Sunday school and told her mother: “The teacher told us how God made the first man and the first woman. He made man first, but the man was very lonely with no one to talk to, so God put the man to sleep, and while he was asleep, God took out his brains and made a woman out of them.”
That’s how the trouble began. British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher said: “If you want something said, ask a man; if you want something done, ask a woman.” Joseph Conrad contends: “Being a woman is a terribly difficult task since it consists principally in dealing with men.”
With women, there are always two choices. “There are two theories to arguing with a woman. Neither one works,” Will Rogers said. “There are two kinds of women in the world: those who take a man’s strength and those who give a man strength,” Ihre Freundin pointed out.
Now talking about two types of women, a psychoanalyst shares: “My women patients can be divided into two categories: the ones who work and the ones who stay at home. The former suffer from a guilt complex, the latter from frustration.”
Have you ever wondered why there are few women in war? Elaynse Boosler has this view: “We have women in the military, but they don’t put us in the front lines. They don’t know if we can fight, if we can kill. I think we can. All the general has to do is walk over to the women and say, ‘You see the enemy over there? They say you look fat in those uniforms.’”
Are men and women really different? Elissa Melamed noted: “Men look at themselves in mirrors. Women look for themselves.” Oscar Wilde differentiates: “Women are never disarmed by compliments. Men always are. That is the difference between the sexes.”
Will Rogers contends: “Every time a woman leaves off something she looks better, but every time a man leaves off something he looks worse.” Elayne Boosler argues: “When women are depressed, they either eat or go shopping. Men invade another country.” Yul Brynner quips: “Women have an unfair advantage over men: if they can’t get what they want by being smart, they can get it by being dumb.”
Here’s another advantage of being a woman. “I’d much rather be a woman than a man,” Gilda Radner remarks. “Women can cry, they can wear cute clothes, and they are the first to be rescued off of sinking ships.”
