Dear Editor, the drawing Kata presented for International Women’s Day is an absolute disgrace.

Shame on him and his arrogant egotistical need to have his right to an opinion to ‘test the waters’ to see if anyone would bite at his demeaning and inappropriate cartoon calls to attention the very problem #BreaktheBias is about. 

I like many other women are juggling too many balls in the air on a daily basis than I guess Kata has to fiddle with, to be able to keep up with the constant slog of dialogue against the female gender in general across all walks of life, work, education and sport, otherwise I would have written sooner.

I am so mad at Kata right now, he had a chance to use his skills and influence for good and to build up and highlight women but no instead he acts like a man with no education, no manners and lives under a rock in the boondocks that he lowered his scribble to imply men need a day to be remembered. It is the blatant conscious decision to stir the pot of inequality, inequity and gender bias that makes his action more despicable. He did it to mansplain all that women are trying to work against, and change. I hope the women in his inner circle give him his dues.  

It is similar to the white privilege that said the same during the Black Lives Matter marches, it is not equitable to say White Lives Matter too, when it is that single focused fact that has put Black lives in danger on a daily basis. The same for women, who have to do more, work harder, put up with male abuse, advances, inuendo’s to remain in their job, get promoted or even be accepted as equal when they clearly prove they are better than the males wherever it may be.

Kata, you knew what you were doing when you drew that cartoon, if you were an everyday ignoramus one might give you slack, but you purposefully wanted it to bring dissension and the fact that I may be the only one who verbally stands up against you, and calls you out on it, only serves to prove the fearfulness women have about speaking up and out which is why the day came about 100 years ago and any progress made here you set back 50 years with one picture.

More disheartenedly women are so used to such derision by men they accept they can’t fight on the slippery slope and in this very male dominated boys network society we live in, they are victims of having to obey and accept there will always be someone like you who won’t hesitate to put the boot in, if they can, even though they know better. 

You want to be a man Kata then be Spiderman. His uncle taught him with great power comes great responsibility, here’s hoping you will use your power of scribbles to choose good, better, and progress next time. 

Ruth Tangiiau Mave