International Women's Day is celebrated around the world on 8th March. It is a day when women are recognised for their achievements across national, ethnic, linguistic, cultural, economic or political boundaries. The theme of International Women’s Day 2025 is “For ALL Women and Girls: Rights, Equality, Empowerment.” This year’s theme calls for action to unlock equal rights, power and opportunities for all and an inclusive future where no one is left behind. Pertinent to this vision is empowering the next generation; youth, particularly young women and adolescent girls—as catalysts for lasting change.
Further, the year 2025 is a pivotal moment as it marks the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. This document is the most progressive and widely endorsed blueprint for women’s and girls’ rights worldwide, transforming the women’s rights agenda in terms of legal protection, access to services, youth engagement, and change in social norms, stereotypes, and ideas stuck in the past. However, recent studies have shown that no country in the world has performed well in terms of fulfilment of SDG 5 that is Goal to Achieve Gender Equality and Empower all Women and Girls. Hence, we need to move beyond Tokenism and flowery gestures and look out for real advocacy.
The difference between tokenism and genuine advocacy lies in the depth and substance of the actions taken. Genuine advocacy involves a long-term commitment to change, including policy reforms, fair representation, and fostering an inclusive culture. It goes beyond offering a discount on a product for one day and instead works to improve the lives of women year-round—whether in terms of pay equity, access to education, healthcare, or the creation of safe and empowering work environments.
In many ways, the commercialization of Women’s Day diminishes the significance and the gravitas of the occasion. When businesses treat the day merely as an opportunity for a sale or a marketing campaign, they risk reducing the important conversations about gender equality to mere consumerism. The emphasis on products, particularly beauty and fashion items, reinforces the stereotype that a woman’s worth is tied to her appearance. When companies focus on selling makeup, clothing, or other consumer goods as the primary way to "celebrate" women, they overlook the deeper structural challenges that many women face daily. This trend suggests that the only way to honour women is through consumer spending, neglecting the reality that women’s liberation encompasses so much more than what they wear or how they look.
Moreover, when companies focus solely on the commercial aspects of Women's Day, they fail to engage with the social, political, and economic aspects of gender inequality. Women still face significant barriers in areas such as income equality, political representation, and access to leadership roles. Hence, we need to focus on the lived experiences of Women, and assert on “Her Story and not History”. Women of colour, transgender women, and women from marginalised communities face even greater obstacles & it so needs to be about the individual stories and not tales that are homogenised. Highlighting these issues requires more than just marketing strategies; it demands structural and institutional changes that cannot be achieved through one-day promotions or feel-good campaigns.
Real advocacy lies in striving as a community to make workplaces truly inclusive. In India, only 27% of women continue to work after maternity, women earn just $8 for every $10 a man makes for the same work, and a mere 5% hold top leadership roles in the country's 500 largest companies. Meanwhile, the 18th Lok Sabha has only 13.6% women MPs—a historical low. Hence, we must give due thrust to achieve gender justice in its truest essence that is by enhancing participation and visibility of women.
As Virginia Woolf reminds us in Mrs. Dalloway, ‘Mrs. Dalloway said she would buy the flowers herself.’ True empowerment means ensuring that women have the agency to shape their own destinies-not just celebrating them one day a year, but creating a world where they don’t need permission to thrive and to “ Accelerate Action” so as to let them buy their flowers themselves!
The writer works as a Consultant-Policy & Promotion at PMU-JTDC, she has previously worked for I-PAC & PDAG at the Office of the Chief Minister, Jharkhand as a Consultant & holds a Masters in English. Besides she is a Feminist Youth Leader from Jharkhand for UN-Women & Gender @ Work India under UN Women’s-Feminist Youth Leadership Programme. Views are personal.