Earlier this month, International Women’s Day was commemorated both in Malta and across the globe.
On the occasion – Sunday 8 March – both of Malta’s major political parties took the opportunity to organise discussion panels focused on the topic of women’s rights and improving conditions for women.
That in itself is nothing strange: both the Labour Party and Nationalist Party have increasingly leaned upon using these types of discussion panels to put forward their political messaging, rather than relying on the party leader and a couple of MPs or candidates to give speeches to crowds and party media.
The problem, perhaps, for political parties is that while a standard event featuring a few speeches can be controlled in such a manner to make sure the party looks good, a discussion panel is perhaps a bit more delicate to control.
That means that there is a greater chance that we end up with moments which may leave some eyebrows raised – and that’s exactly what happened on 8 March, when the CEO of the UHM Josef Vella said that in the spirit of gender equality, he believes that men should be similarly appreciated and that “we must also celebrate Men’s Day,” not just locally.
It was a strange remark, considering the occasion, and it was greeted by murmurs of discontent from those present and some on social media.
“My point isn’t to have men and women compete against each other. We’ve repeatedly responded to the capitalist world by pitting men and women against each other,” Vella said.
It’s fair to note that during his interventions Vella also highlighted discrimination that women face in the workplace even now, saying that after women give birth, it is not unheard of for them to lose seniority, not get properly integrated back into the workplace, and carry this burden till they retire and begin receiving pensions.
“If we care about this, let’s write laws to truly amend this. We can begin working on this tomorrow, and we should,” Vella said, noting that UHM budget proposals on such issues have remained ignored.
It’s just that Vella’s over-arching point was lost in his attempt to fall back on a sort of whataboutism to try and not forget about anyone.
The greater irony is that International Men’s Day does in fact exist, and more so that Malta is the country which has had the longest running celebration of the day.
Malta has commemorated International Men’s Day since 1994, and Parliamentary Secretary for Equality Rebecca Buttigieg highlighted the occasion last November, highlighting society’s failures particularly when it comes to men and mental health.
Equality is important on both sides, without a doubt, but the path towards it is, objectively, far more difficult in many aspects for women than it is for men. That’s why remarks like that which Vella made – highlighting men, even on the one day that is internationally recognised and dedicated to women – will have prompted so many sighs and eye-rolls.
The greater pity is that cheap remarks and comparisons like this ultimately overshadow valid points, as has happened with Vella himself.