HAS WOMEN’S DAY AND WOMEN’S MONTH DELIVERED ON THE ASPIRATIONS OF SA WOMEN?

Commissioner Janine Hicks – Commissioner at the Commission for Gender EqualityGuests: Phindi Malaza- Project Manager at Forum for the Empowerment of Women Defending Women, Advancing RightsGuest Ms Lisa Vetten – Research Associate at WITS Institute for social and economic researchIt would be difficult to have a discussion of women’s rights without mentioning the framework of feminism. While feminism accomplished a great deal in what are deemed the three waves, as well as women figures prominent in ancient, medieval, Enlightenment, and Victorian histories, today the word is synonymous with exclusion (of men) and infused with conflict when it needn’t be. Feminism is a social movement, a philosophy, even an academic endeavor. It advocates for women’s industrial, mental, political, social, and economic equality with men and is a legitimate and natural extension of human rights. It is not about exclusion of one sex but the desire of the other to be fully included in society.