March 8 is International Women's Day. The aim of the day is promote equality of the sexes and to empower women. Sadly, more often than not, the day seems to reinforce the stereotypes it was made to destroy.
In Lundazi, women's day is to be commemorated with a beauty pageant in the local night club, where girls are often found working in the "world's oldest profession." When I visited Petauke recently, I found out that it has been decided that the best way to celebrate female empowerment is to get together and clean the local hospital.
Perhaps this seems odd to those outside Zambia - in which case, what may seem even odder is that the women in each area chose the best activities to commemorate the day with.
Despite the majority of women here tending the fields, selling crops at the market, raising children, providing food and fetching water, if you ask their husband what they did, they tend to say something like: "I am a farmer. My wife doesn't work."
Ask Zambian women what they would like to do with their public holiday, and they will almost inevitably choose to commemorate it with events that fulfill their place in Zambian society, or that will improve the communities they live in. Certainly, today they will continue to do all these things, as well as the extra activities.
Perhaps more appropriate would be for Women's Day to be a day where men did everything women tend to do, so that women's work in society can be fully appreciated.
