What you need yo know:
- A reader discusses the need to stop gender discrimination.
- Another reader highlights the need to help woeking mothers adjust to the workplace after giving birth.
- Capturing life is possible without screens, a reader raises a concern.
We all are living in the 21st century. People have started understanding equality in a broader sense. People understand the importance of equality of people’s rights on all fronts. Education with knowledge is helping to narrow these differences. We are able to respect each other.
How can we say that we are ‘ignoring men’s issues?’
It has taken us centuries to fight this discrimination. Still we are not able to make a 100 per cent difference. I myself have faced discrimination many a times when I drive. While living in the UAE for the past 11 years, I have come across a few men who overtake women drivers on the road. When they see women driving they immediately break the rules because they assume that ‘they cannot drive’. Some men still can’t digest the fact that women drive all around the world. Some male drivers smile and acknowledge women drivers on the road and show them some respect.
It’s not about whose issues need more attention, whether male or female. We are all human afterall and deserve the same platform to think, grow and resolve problems. Since we are human, we are full of emotions. We all have gone through some trauma or stress in life. Why do we divide our problems based on gender? Or who is stronger?
Issues like suicides and depression affect us all. Of course, there are some problems that mostly affect one particular section of society, like breast cancer, female genital mutilation, prostate cancer, and awareness is being provided on such issues. There are many bodies in the form of clubs available to support such issues. Problems need to be highlighted and exposure should be given to all. People need to challenge such situations and learn to tackle them. There are classic examples of men and women working together in various fields like politics, journalism, acting, banking, science and more where genders are valued and not discriminated against.
I don’t believe in one particular day, to celebrate International Man’s Day, Woman’s Day, Father’s Day and other such events we endulge in. We don’t need one particular day to celebrate people! Every day is a celebration if we value each other properly. We have this precious gift called ‘life’, which we need to live and cherish, every day of our lives.
- The reader is a former banker and resident of Abu Dhabi.
