BY MADELEINE MEZAGOPIAN
The United Nations’ theme for the 2025 International Women’s Day is “For All Women and Girls Rights. Equality Empowerment,” and the IWD campaign theme is “Accelerate Action,” with its focal issues being gender equality, reproductive rights, and violence and abuse against women. While pondering these themes, we revisit the status of women today by observing different women’s roles.
We begin with the woman as a mother, where she keeps her home neat, raises and educates her children, advises her children and husband, and more. Moving further, there are the traditional roles of the woman outside of the home, as a teacher or nurse. The non-traditional professions taken up by women, including doctors, engineers, lawyers and university professors, only became possible after societies began to respect and value women outside of their traditional roles.
With the increasing confidence and belief in women, over the years the world has witnessed women take non-orthodox positions in different job sectors, including as heads of states and as diverse senior public figures, pilots, astronauts, executive directors of business and financial companies, and so much more.
However, women-based organizations are looking to achieve more in regard to issues that are pertinent to women. This speaks to the UN’s IWD’s theme, which assertively refers to the need for further empowerment.
The key question is whether women are truly and genuinely successful. This success is measured not only by self-satisfaction and by their dedication to helping improve society at large, but by women gaining the due respect and appreciation they deserve for the different roles they play by both men and other women.
As a point of departure and due to the relevant national legislations, policies and its implementation, and to the ongoing efforts of the relevant non-governmental and international organizations, women are indeed safer and less abused verbally and physically worldwide.
However, and with a big emphasis, there are societies that refused to integrate this culture of peace, whether through its religious institutions, within its academic curriculums and extra curriculum activities, or through different means of media. In these societies, irrespective of its available opportunities for women empowerment and equality, women will continue to be abused, will be far from being equal partners to men and far from receiving the respect and appreciation they deserve by the society at large.
In regard to the status of women in countries of socioeconomic and political development which truly embraced the culture of peace—yes, the women in these societies do enjoy equality in a safe environment and receive the respect and appreciation of the society. However, in some cases, this reality is accompanied by confusion and self-betrayal for women.
First, the issue of equality has lost its significance, as the notion has led to the dismissing of the beauty of the diversity of the two, however equal, different genders.
Further, and of greater significance and destructive impact, is the fake forms of equality practiced by politicians and heads of institutions that purport to support women by giving them senior positions, far from merit-based appointments, simply for these politicians and their relevant parties to enjoy popularity and gain further votes by the societies they serve, and by the women in particular.
This being said, yet another element exists which truly harms women’s rights, an element embodied in the women themselves. The women who still resort to the same old ugly tricks of using their beauty to obtain higher academic degrees and work opportunities, in addition to work promotions and benefits facilitated by the men who make such decisions. Thus, such conducts do not only harm women’s status as equal to men, but equally negatively impacts the level of respect that men have for women.
In light of the above-mentioned, yes there must be emphasis on equality empowerment and accelerating actions. But, surely, the emphasis should be on merit-based equality and diversity empowerment and merit-based accelerating actions. Additionally, women themselves must feed their aspirations for equality through enhancing their knowledge, skills and professional and ethical credibility. All of these factors will surely preserve women’s self-respect and will earn them the respect of the society at large.
Last, but surely not least, this occasion cannot be marked without expressing great respect, gratitude and appreciation to the women soldiers securing the national borders and to the women who work in national security, who are anchoring domestic peace and stability. The way forward for women—with positive socioeconomic, political and cultural developments—is only possible within secure borders and amid domestic peace and stability. In this way, we can build an environment that is safe for women, one that is conducive to accelerated actions that will empower women and have them be truly equal to men.
Madeleine Mezagopian is a scholar and an academician based in Amman, Jordan.
