On Sunday, Mar. 8th, thousands tweeted empowering messages to women with the hashtag #InternationalWomensDay. However, does this display of support for gender equality really help make a change? Or does this day just fall into the rapidly growing heap of disregarded causes of the hashtag activism epidemic?

To be fair, I do think that the hashtag opened the door for many conversations to happen. I myself tweeted the hashtag along with a message about trans women and single mothers. However, the majority of tweets that I witnessed were a clean, PG-rated version of what I had said. Some just said the hashtag, while others reminded us to hug our moms. But how many important conversations can we open with a simple reminder to do what we do everyday anyways?

There are real, important issues that need to be focused on in regards to the state of women in the world. For example, we could talk about the struggles that single mothers face, not only economically, but overcoming social stigmas as well.

I have experienced what that is like first-hand. It’s here that I’m going to ask you to look at how single mothers are perceived in the media and then look at how single fathers are perceived. How come most single mothers are high school dropouts with dead-end jobs while most fathers are inspirational, hardworking, all-American men?

Another important conversation that we need to have as a nation is the safety of transgendered women across America. There are not just slurs being thrown at these women, their physical safety is constantly in jeopardy. Not only is it difficult having a constant struggle between mind and body, or the rejection of parents and friends, and the sometimes crippling depression that can go along with being transgendered (like Leelah Alcorn), there are also women whose lives are taken from them by murderers (like the nine women who were murdered for being trans just this year).

These conversations all need to happen. But did #InternationalWomensDay really facilitate these talks? It is my belief that while this day is important for some feel-good messages about moms and girl power, the actual political value is close to none. There should not be just one day for women, everyday is a day for women. And everyday we need to see change.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions shared in this article are those of the writer, and not Zephyrus as a whole.