Women's day... while men slay...

Can the ironies, dear reader, be any greater? Here we are, celebrating International Women’s Day even as the world sees a war which evades logic, a clash which escapes accountability and a moral battlefield which lacks all morality. How is the armageddon over Iran linked to Women’s Day, some might ask? Well, what do women integrally stand for if not peace, love, dignity, truth and compassion? What do their core values mean in an era when these melt to shreds in the immensity of bombs dropped on a little girls’ school? Most women around the world shudder at what is happening now — but their pleas for righteous conduct go unnoticed as men busily count strategies, alliances and wins. What does Women’s Day, in an atmosphere where men busily slay, even mean?

It means a great deal. Today, the voices, minds and hearts of women must be recognised far more if we are to prevent the world from slipping into a terrifying abyss where only tyrants prevail. For this, it is vital to appreciate the perspectives of women scholars on war — most military accounts and analyses feature conventional male worldviews, fascinated by guns and poses, thrilled by blustery battlemongers killing the defenseless, enthralled by gains counted in oil, soil and minerals, lost lives, just a tiny footnote in the appendix of time. We at TE are bold enough to state there is a clear difference in the views of women versus men on war. Seeing a town bombed, a man might ponder about the plane the explosive was dropped from — a woman would wonder, who did it fall on?

To change the era we live in — and alter the future as well — we must privilege the latter point of view. War is not heroic, intelligent or essential — it is a result of history’s most twisted tragedies and perversities. The stories of war Times Evoke’s global experts share reflect the beating heart of neocolonialism, the thefts and larcenies of empire, the savagery of those carrying a ‘civilising mission’, the dehumanising of humans and the transformation of plants, animals and birds into resource machines — at the very least, they can be shot for enjoyment. To reject this unhinged outlook, it is crucial to spotlight women scholars, writers, conservationists and farmers who record how hard — and beautiful — it is to nurture life. And what a travesty it is to blow it apart. Join Times Evoke on Women’s Day as men slay — the times could not be more crucial.