[Susanna]

I think , at least once in a lifetime , we were in a situation when we regretted saying something. As a child I was raised in the environment when an independent thinking was very much encouraged. Regardless of how revolutionary or radical were my ideas, they were always welcome by my parents and teachers. They saw them as a food for thought to dive into the subject and looked at it from different perspectives. And for me by challenging the common way of thinking was the best way to dig deeper and understand better the state of things. This is how my critical thinking was developed. And I was absolutely sure that this would come in handy in my adult life. Little did I know that the adulthood would be so different from my previous experience and that initiative and proactive thinking would be sometimes punishable if you applied them in a wrong place or with the wrong people. To cut to the chase, my adult life taught me to be very cautious while expressing opinions, especially when they are the opposite to the opinion of the interlocutor. A highly competitive working environment and a market -oriented society shape a very specific relationship among people; most of them to prove that they are the best can take very personally the opposite opinion, accept it as a challenge and become very defensive and even aggressive. In some cases it can affect your relationship with the colleagues and in the worst case scenarios it can cost your job. And this is not, I hasten to add, that we shouldn’t express our opinions but rather to choose very carefully the language, the tone and the appropriate time and place to do it.

[Susanna]

I do agree with Greta that this day should galvanize us to stand up against gender injustice. IWD was born as a result of womens protests for better working conditions at the turn of 20th century and serves as a reminder of how vulnerable women can be in a patriarchic society. Although Greatas statement holds very much truth, I would rather refrain from imposing it on the others who see it as an opportunity to thank the women surrounding them for their beauty, motherhood and simply for their being. At the end of the day it will be always those who will be protesting and those who will be celebrating this day. If only we lived in the just and equal society without need for protest and with lots of occasions for the celebrations.