Reflections on the commodification of women’s day celebrations

In a scorching piece titled Why I’ve Ditched International Women’s Day (IWD) Celebrations, Jackline Kemigisa writes: “Gone are the days of collective defiance; now it’s all about applauding individual women within capitalist, neoliberal frameworks.” This gem landed in my inbox right after I’d waltzed out of a corporate-sponsored Women’s Day celebration.

Had I, too, lost sight of the essence of this day by participating in an event that seemed more like lavish weddings than a meaningful celebration of women’s achievements? Ms Kemigisa also registers her annoyance at the stream of messages from businesses offering her discounts to celebrate the date for all products and services. I chuckled in bemusement as I remembered how much I cherished the on-site discounts at the event I had just attended. The writer refers to this sales-driven recognition as galling.

Intrigued by her perspective, I looked up the basic definition of the day, if only to make sure that I wasn’t veering completely off the path of gender equality in my support of “capitalist intentions.”

According to the official International Women’s Day website, it is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating women’s equality and belongs to all groups collectively everywhere. My interpretation of this is that everyone is entitled to interpret and celebrate it as they deem fit.

A scan through the local dailies and social media platforms showed me that there was no shortage of events to choose from – from social hall meetings with women in informal settlements, to comedy and music nights featuring female artists to panel discussions.

Everyone, in their little or big ways, did their bit in ensuring that women were celebrated, whether it was at county, national, or international level.

While the high-profile event that I attended was commercially driven, with a steep cover charge for individual participants to boot, it doesn’t take away from the fact that the event was used to celebrate the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women.

The richly diverse panel discussions laid bare what achievements women from different walks of life had made and what remained to be done to achieve gender equality. Topics like women’s leadership, unpaid care work, and the effect of technology on women’s leadership were all brought under the microscope. These discussions provided valuable insights and potential action points for advancing women’s rights for the attendees.

While I don’t wholeheartedly endorse the commercialisation of the day in any shape or form, I consider it a necessary evil to achieve the bigger goal of having organisations support and invest in gender equality. We must be pragmatic about it, as we need everyone on board as allies for the battle that lies ahead.