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Vice President Joyce Mujuru

Last week, millions of people across the globe joined hands to commemorate International Women’s Day – a day set aside to celebrate the social, political and economic achievements of women.International Women’s Day also focuses world attention on areas requiring further action in the drive to fully emancipate women.

The celebrations were held under the global theme “Inspiring Change”, a topic that calls for women’s equality and vigilance, while inspiring positive change.

According to the theme, the vast array of communication channels, supportive spokespeople, equality research, campaigns and corporate responsibility initiatives mean everyone can be an advocate in inspiring change for women’s advancement.

Countries, groups and even associations select specific themes to suit their own context. The Zimbabwe theme for International Women’s Day for 2014 was “Linking Women to Markets: Changing the Face of Development Through Zim-Asset”.

As the celebrations were sweeping across the continent and indeed the globe, accompanied by different themes to suit varying contexts, I could not help but reminisce on how things have changed from the time women were identified by their social standings with no tag at all attached to their persona.

That was the time when women were just referred to as housewives, sisters, grandmothers, leaders of the Mothers Union or better still Mai Nyamukuta, or ambuya, for being gurus in solving social problems in our communities.

It was also that time when our mothers would wait for months for donors to help them kick-start a tie- and-dye project, or to teach them how to bake scones using the popular “Dover” or Tsotso stoves.

While I am not sure why that was so, it probably had something to do with their socialisation, where they needed societal approval and endorsement before they could embark on a project of such magnitude.

That was the era when women were content to abandon their dreams and aspirations midway so that they could rally behind their husbands and the whole village to reach for the stars, while they cheered from the terraces.

However, that is no longer the case. Life in the last two decades or so, under the heavy hammer blows of vital necessity, largely influenced by the changing socio-political and economic situations, has given birth to a woman with a new psychological sense, new needs and a new mindset.

It, however, goes without saying that the type of “new woman” varies from each region and country and is largely influenced by her social standing and understanding of issues, her striving life goals and probably her membership of institution, like the church, which does play a crucial role in shaping ideologies and the general outlook towards life.

No matter how different these “new women” may want to be identified and distinguished among the rest, one thing that society can’t miss is that Zimbabwe and probably the region has in its midst heroines with independent demands on life, heroines who assert their personalities, who protest against the universal servitude of women in the government, the family, society and heroines who fight for their rights as representatives of their sex.

I am referring to heroines who have dared to make a difference in the country by taking up space in the economy, politics and bringing transformational change in their own way.

These are the heroines who have helped shape family values, promote the family unity and strive to maintain peace even in the most volatile situations. Their major role is not to challenge men, but speak against in- equalities in all spheres of life, while creating a positive change under  different circumstances.

Present-day conditions demand that every woman who exercises a trade, a profession, work of any kind outside their home, should have self-discipline, willpower and a determination to aim for the top.

The prevailing conditions demand women to be conscious of their situations, be fully aware of what is happening around the globe and make an effort to be part of the process. They require women who can stand tall within their own communities, be identifiable with a certain cause and get recognition for their efforts in their line of business, in the society or in their own homes.

However, our heroines can attest that getting that recognition, continuously going up, making a difference in people’s lives and be able to suit the dictates of the new woman, that the world is warming up to will not emerge from nowhere.

It will not just come from men’s need to understand women as a rare species with a weaker physiology and therefore need attention and care. Women will need to be identified with a cause and their ability to adjust to prevailing situations and conditions.

With the global challenges in the political, social and economic spheres that emerge every day, the new breed of women now need to measure up to the task by improving themselves through education.

Education no longer means being a holder of an O-Level certificate with Maths and English as the prerequisite subjects, but now means attaining the professional qualification needed to meet a certain need.

It is for that reason that a lot of women are no longer being content to just have a certificate in teacher education or a midwifery course, but they are now studying for doctorates and professorships to match international standards and be at par with the global dictates.

Celebration of such occasions as International Women’s Day should be a reflective moment for women to evaluate the progress they have made in their own small sphere.

Rather than continue to live in the medieval age where life was down to basics, there is a lot that women can now do, at home, at the workplace and society, breaking the patriarchal barriers that were hindering women’s progression.

They will now need to do more than take stock of the gender identities of those in leadership in order to determine whether it is participating in the systemic oppression of women or making headway. Women should continue shaping their destiny, living the good moments of their dreams and be part of the future.