Veronika Winkels "This International Women’s Day, I recall how I spent it last year -- meeting one of the sanest men on the planet, Jordan B. Peterson, during his book tour in Melbourne.
"Although Peterson is famous for his appeal to young men who have never been told to make their beds, his clear thinking is a boon to anyone frustrated by the contradictory ideologies of our time. That includes me.
"It strikes me as odd that on the one hand, our society seems to celebrate women at every opportunity. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. But it becomes a confusing thing when said society is also meant to accept, simultaneously, that gender is something wholly irrelevant to our makeup as human beings.
"Suddenly we are told that, as women, we are not so special. In fact, our womanhood is an illusion.
"Most of us can see past these kinds of contradictions in our culture, simply because we know, innately, women are different from men, and that is something to be celebrated.
"Let’s hang onto that word “celebrated”, because too often, when women are the subject, victimhood is the main focus. Women are constantly starring as victims of the male patriarchy, of inequality, of sexual/physical/emotional/abuse. Even the meme “female empowerment” assumes that women have been denied power that is rightfully theirs.
"That is why I have to smile wryly as IWD looms: the voices that dominate its representative body, its showgirls, are never the powerless type; nor are they unassuming, stay-at-home mothers like me, whose power is consumed -- voluntarily -- serving the needs of my family. In fact, one gets the impression that to be quiet, unassuming and a stay-at-home-mum is to betray the movement that has given rise to such gestures as IWD." . . .
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