Let Women’s Day be renamed Human’s Day

Women’s Day, women’s conferences, women’s malls, women’s schools, women’s exhibitions ... It all makes me wonder whether women are strange aliens that need to be in a deserted planet discussing their matters isolated from this world. Women in the Arab world revolted hand in hand with men for social justice and freedom. So in what way are women-only conferences and ‘Days’ relevant in this day and age?

On March 8, 2015, I attended the 18th Global Women Leaders Conference at Burj Al Arab in Dubai, where all of the participants were women. The limitations of this segregated conference were more apparent to me when I contrasted it with mixed conferences, such as the Economic Development Conference and a panel held with the Egyptian Prime Minister Ebrahim Mahlab and attended by young men and women later this month. There was a huge difference between the fruitful discussion with the Mahlab and the “dialogue of the deaf” at the women’s conference.

The panel discussion at the women’s conference went in circles without finding answers to most questions. This was because decision-makers are mostly men, who were not there. They are the ones who can actually respond to these issues. Questions included women’s promotion at work, men’s guardianship, control of the religious institute on women’s advancement status in some Arab countries and how this all affects women’s leadership. In some cases, not only were there no answers to the question, but some of the attendants were defending these obstacles and attacking those who criticised them.

In stark contrast, participants at the discussion with the Egyptian premier did not leave any aspect of the country’s infrastructure unscrutinised — health, education, work environment, women’s status — and the prime minister was answering questions candidly and sincerely.

Since men still hold most of the senior positions and most-decision makers are men, what is the benefit of women-only conferences, where women just talk to each other? In my view, these conferences do nothing other than to emphasise discrimination against women. Conducting such conferences in the Arab world is an embodiment of the alliance between the Arab world’s traditional social heritage and the West’s neo-liberal globalisation, which is patriarchal and will do nothing to rectify women’s low status. If we want International Women’s Day to be more effective and inclusive, it should be renamed as International Human’s Day that includes both sexes in order to highlight and achieve development goals. If we restrict the conferences to women’s issues and have ‘Women’s Day’, only women will take an interest and attend them.

In some cases, some women who are abiding by restrictive traditions may even attend to defend them. Meetings will only really be attended by women activists and discussions will be restricted to these circles. However, if we call it Human’s Day and explain that the non-participation of women in workplaces will affect the economies of the Arab world, we will be framing women’s status as a matter of national importance. Discussing women’s matters in women-only conferences merely serves to reinforce social and traditional structures and does not question the sources of women’s subordination and oppression. These conferences should be focusing on specific topics so that something concrete can be accomplished. The inability of these conferences to discuss the core problem of women’s advancement is like women-only television programmes. The subjects will be treated as women’s issues and any discussion will be restricted to women only. If that is the case, how will they ever help to change the reality?

These kinds of conferences and television shows are essentially a ‘ghettoisation’ of women and will not generate public concern that reaches decision-makers. On the other hand, mixed-sex forums can help transform women’s basic needs, such as a steady source of income and education. They can also help to address more strategic gender interests, such as challenging male control of women’s labour and women’s restricted access to social and economic resources and political power.

Instead of organising women-only conferences or television shows, women should be integrated into mixed conferences and the mainstream media. The issue of women’s status should be promoted among the public. If there are economic conferences, working women should speak to highlight shortcomings. If there are political programmes, female politicians should be present. In this way, women can participate as effective members of society in all spheres of life.

Holding mixed conferences or changing the name of International Women’s Day will clearly not be enough on their own. These conferences must be organised through regional non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in order to ensure their effectiveness. It is also important to integrate top-down and bottom-up approaches to include political will and public resources for social change, bringing together government agencies, NGOs and the media to work towards a common goal. Through these changes, these conferences will no longer be unproductive or only promote the views of the elite; but will also reflect the grass roots of society through the vision of both women and men. Making these changes will be the first step towards reforming both western neo-liberal patriarchal policies and the Arab traditional social heritage.

Najat Al Saied is a Saudi academic and a graduate in media studies from the University of Westminster, UK. Her PhD thesis is: Development Initiatives in Programming on Privately-Owned Arab Satellite Television and their Reception among Disadvantaged Saudi Women. She is an assistant professor at Zayed University in Dubai.