Sir, – It feels somewhat ridiculous that we have designated one day of the year, out of 365, to celebrate women, who make up slightly more than half of the total population.
I have enjoyed celebrating women’s achievements on March 8th for the last few years now, and as someone with a background in science, particularly the achievements of women in Stem (science, technology, engineering and maths). However, each year, as the range of options for events to attend on March 8th grows, many conflicting with each other in the day’s schedule, I say to myself, why are we trying to cram all of this celebration into one day? One day is all we get?
The prominence of women’s contributions to society and progress seems to be increasing, thanks to hard work done by countless groups advocating for women to be seen and heard, such as Women in Technology and Science in Ireland, and with credit to awareness campaigns such as #MeToo and #TimesUp.
That said, it is still unfair that the achievements and capabilities of women should be held up as something special, to be remembered on just one day of the year, rather than being the norm.
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I look forward to a time when International Women’s Day is not needed, when women are given their full share of opportunities to demonstrate greatness, but until then we must keep our foot on the accelerator and not let the vehicle cruise. – Yours, etc,
JANE O’HARA,
Dún Laoghaire,
Co Dublin.