Art, Women and Men Who Make It Matter

Female Gaze

- Sandhya Mendonca

This week I want to applaud men who genuinely celebrate International Women's Day. Yes, that's right. Men who understand what it means for women to stand up and be seen, men who encourage and support, who stand beside or behind them, and most importantly, men who shut up and listen when women speak.

If you are one of them, I tip my faux straw hat to you.

I've recently taken to wearing hats in the city-ones I originally bought for beach holidays as summer has already arrived with unmistakable intensity, promising to be quite the sizzler this year.

Adding to the seasonal heat was the increasingly shrill chorus of advertisements targeting women with special offers for International Women's Day.

Each year, brands seem determined to make consumers of women without the slightest effort to understand the day's significance.

It's simply another opportunity to boost sales-no different from Valentine's Day, Father's Day, Mother's Day, Children's Day, and countless others. Are you appalled, or at least mildly annoyed, by this blatant appropriation by marketers? Amidst numerous Women's Day-themed events, I found myself at a celebration that honoured two things dear to my heart: art and feminism through the spotlight on women artists.