This International Women's Day, Brussels Minister for Mobility Elke Van den Brandt (Groen) sees that the hard-won gains she took for granted are increasingly under attack by Trumpian macho politics. It makes her sad, but also defiant. Her answer? Women should get involved in politics before politics messes with them.
I grew up in a time when women's rights were improving and everyone took it for granted. The question was not whether more rights would be granted or not, but how quickly they would be granted, and in what way.
I never thought we would return to a time when we would have to defend those achievements and rights all over again. We stand on the shoulders of giants. Where we find ourselves today is thanks to the women who came before us.
Politician Miet Smet paved the way, Madeleine "Madam Secretary" Albright warned us against fascism. I myself became politically aware thanks to the Norwegian politician Gro Brundtland, who taught me that poverty and climate change are the same struggle. This later also became my political struggle.
The women in my family also moulded me into the politician I am today. My grandmother believed it was self-evident that girls should go to university or college, just like boys. My mother showed that a woman does not have to be dependent on a man. When I scroll through social media today, I come across videos of so-called "trad wives" who question all these achievements which we take for granted.
For a while, these strange beliefs were a marginal phenomenon on the fringes of the internet. But now these misogynistic ideas have comfortably nestled into places where power also exists. Even worse, this principle has nestled itself in the hearts of our young men.
Recent research shows that more and more boys think violence against women should be allowed. That is nothing short of shocking. Trumpian machos and their right-wing extremist, old-fashioned view of gender are openly attacking and putting at risk generations of progress.
Perhaps that is what I am saddest about today. I want to build on the achievements of the strong women who came before me. But instead, I see that I must defend those foundations against demolition.
I grew up with different values, different ideals. I also grew up believing that a more just society was only a matter of time. Today, at a frightening pace, cooperation is giving way to egotism and the survival of the fittest. Bullies threaten, shout and build armies. Democracy is making way for a regime of machoism.
Today I wake up in a world that is more hostile to women than ever. It forces me to ask myself existential questions: Who do I want to be as a politician, as a mother, as a woman? The answers only make me more determined to fight.
I see only one solution: all girls in power. That is a witticism, of course, but women should not allow themselves to be pushed aside. Power is not a dirty word. It is essential.
I would like to add a disclaimer: Being a woman alone is no guarantee of a woman-friendly policy. We are seeing more and more female politicians embracing the extreme right and buying their power at the expense of other women and minority groups. They even add a false emancipatory tone to their tune. We must expose the Melonis of this world. They are not our allies in the fight against machocracy.
We will continue to build. We will not allow ourselves to be pushed back. I will always fight for the place of women in society. Not just for myself but for all the women and girls who come after me. We must set an example for all young girls. They should not let some alpha male on TikTok tell them that they are inferior. They should know that our future is not in the shadows.
That is what 8 March is about. Let's take to the streets en masse, with our mothers and grandmothers in mind and our daughters and sons in our hearts. Women must get involved in politics. Because politics is already interfering with us anyway. The popular Flemish singer Yasmine already sang it in 1999: all girls in power. Let that be our battle cry, today, tomorrow and every day of the year.
