Women all around the world celebrate International Women’s Day (IWD) today, March 8, 2016.

Women have come a long way since March 19, 1911 (note: not March 8) when the first International Women’s Day was celebrated in Copenhagen by the Conference of the Working Women headed by Clara Zetkin. The first National Women’s Day was observed in the United States following a declaration by the Socialist Party of America on Feb 28, 1910.

One hundred years ago, women were still not allowed to vote in most countries. One hundred years ago, there were no women in public offices until Jeannette Rankin of Montana became the first woman elected to the US Congress in 1916. A hundred years ago, there were no women leaders in the corporate world.

Fast forward to 2016. Now, women are allowed to vote everywhere in the ‘known’ world. Now, out of the 193 United Nations member states, there are only 15 women heads of state (excluding Queen Elizabeth of UK and Queen Margrethe of Denmark). There are only five female heads of government.

We now have 54 female chief executive officers out of 1,000 Fortune companies.

In Malaysia, female representation in the Dewan Rakyat is a miserable 10.4 percent and in the state assemblies women make up only 11 percent of the total assemblypersons. Women are better represented in the Dewan Negara though, 23.08 percent are women. The disparity in numbers are quite disturbing and a stark reflection of gender inequality.

The Democratic Action Party (DAP) made history by becoming the first party in Malaysia to set a 30 percent quota for women leaders among its highest executive leadership.

DAP can lead the way to break this monopoly of the ‘old boys’ club’ as women make up more than 50 percent of Malaysia’s population and more than 50 percent of voters are women.

It is opined that once the monopoly is broken then we should all compete on a level playing field.

What is the actual significance of celebrating IWD? Many people, especially the men, are under the false impression that IWD is all about gender bender and grabbing power.

Two days ago, a man spoke loudly to my husband, with the intention of letting me hear the conversation, that the notion of women’s rights is rubbish. He quoted the example of Adam and Eve. How God created Adam first and then used one of Adam’s ribs to create Eve. That means women are inferior to men. Not entirely satisfied, he went on to say that men’s shoulders are bigger than women’s. Hence, the women are always dependent on men.

I just kept quiet as I didn’t want to create a scene. I resorted to penning down my replies as the pen is mightier than the sword. Firstly, God created Eve not from his head to rule over him nor his feet to be trampled by him but from his rib so that she can be his equal.

Secondly, men are definitely stronger physically but women are stronger in wisdom. The ratio of female to male university students in Malaysia is 7:3. Go figure! Judging from that, men would be financially dependent on women instead.

Misogyny or false beliefs aside, we need to understand the true significance of IWD. It’s about giving women our dues. It’s about giving the women the recognition that we deserve. It’s about giving the women the equal opportunities. It’s about giving women the chance to realise our potentials. It’s about letting the women perform, to write, to speak and to do the things that we want to do.

Men, we are not trying to take away your manhood. We are not fighting you. We are not trying to grab your positions or powers. We just want you to treat us fairly and justly. Let us celebrate womanhood. Happy International Women’s Day!

NICOLE TAN LEE KOON is DAP Wanita national executive committee (NEC) member and Negri Sembilan DAP state committee member.