INTERNATIONAL
WOMANS' DAY
PHILOXENIA gives
a rose to every woman. The International Woman's Day (ΙWD) is now
an official holiday in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, China, Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan, Macedonia, Moldova, Mongolia, Russia, Tajikistan, Ukraine,
Uzbekistan and Vietnam.
In Greece today
all women could travel for free by bus or train the whole day. Many women used
this privilege. Erophile, my wife did so too.
HAPPY WOMAN'S DAY
Click above
- A nice Russian clip
Tradition
sees men honoring their mothers, wives, girlfriends, colleagues, etc with
flowers and small gifts. In some countries IWD has the equivalent status of
Mother's Day, where children give small presents to their mothers and
grandmothers.
The
International Women's Day has been observed since in the early 1900's, a time
of great expansion and turbulence in the industrialized world that saw booming
population growth and the rise of radical ideologies.
HISTORY
OF IWD
1908. Great unrest and critical debate was occurring amongst women. Women's
oppression and inequality was spurring women to become more vocal and active in
campaigning for change. Then in 1908, 15,000 women marched through New York
City demanding shorter hours, better pay and voting rights.
1909. In accordance with a declaration by the Socialist Party of America, the
first National Woman's Day (NWD) was observed across the United States on 28
February. Women continued to celebrate NWD on the last Sunday of February until
1913.
1910. In 1910 a second International Conference of Working Women was held in
Copenhagen. A woman named a Clara Zetkin (Leader of the 'Women's Office' for the Social Democratic Party in
Germany) tabled the idea of an International Women's Day. She proposed that
every year in every country there should be a celebration on the same day - a Women's
Day - to press for their demands. The conference of over 100 women from 17
countries, representing unions, socialist parties, working women's clubs, and
including the first three women elected to the Finnish parliament, greeted
Zetkin's suggestion with unanimous approval and thus International Women's Day
was the result.
1911. Following the decision agreed at Copenhagen in 1911, International Women's
Day (IWD) was honored the first time in Austria, Denmark, Germany and
Switzerland on 19 March. More than one million women and men attended IWD
rallies campaigning for women's rights to work, vote, be trained, to hold
public office and end discrimination. However less than a week later on 25
March, the tragic 'Triangle Fire' in New York City took the lives of more than
140 working women, most of them Italian and Jewish immigrants. This disastrous
event drew significant attention to working conditions and labor legislation in
the United States that became a focus of subsequent International Women's Day
events. 1911 also saw women's 'Bread and Roses' campaign.
1913-1914. On the eve of World War I campaigning for peace,
Russian women observed their first International Women's Day on the last Sunday
in February 1913. In 1913 following discussions, International Women's Day was
transferred to 8 March and this day has remained the global date for
International Women's Day ever since. In 1914 further women across Europe held
rallies to campaign against the war and to express women's solidarity.
1917. On the last Sunday of February, Russian women began a strike for "bread
and peace" in response to the death over 2 million Russian soldiers in
war. Opposed by political leaders the women continued to strike until four days
later the Czar was forced to abdicate and the provisional Government granted
women the right to vote. The date the women's strike commenced was Sunday 23
February on the Julian calendar then in use in Russia. This day on the
Gregorian calendar in use elsewhere was 8 March.
1918-1999. Since its birth in the socialist movement, International Women's Day has
grown to become a global day of recognition and celebration across developed
and developing countries alike. For decades, IWD has grown from strength to
strength annually. For many years the United Nations has held an annual IWD
conference to coordinate international efforts for women's rights and
participation in social, political and economic processes. 1975 was designated
as 'International Women's Year' by the United Nations. Women's organizations
and governments around the world have also observed IWD annually on 8 March by
holding large-scale events that honor women's advancement and while diligently
reminding of the continued vigilance and action required to ensure that women's
equality is gained and maintained in all aspects of life.
The new millennium
has witnessed a significant change and attitudinal shift in both women's and
society's thoughts about women's equality and emancipation. Many from a younger
generation feel that 'all the battles have been won for women' while many
feminists from the 1970's know only too well the longevity and ingrained
complexity of patriarchy. With more women in the boardroom, greater equality in
legislative rights, and an increased critical mass of women's visibility as
impressive role models in every aspect of life, one could think that women have
gained true equality. The unfortunate fact is that women are still not paid
equally to that of their male counterparts, women still are not present in
equal numbers in business or politics, and globally women's education, health
and the violence against them is worse than that of men.
However,
great improvements have been made. We do have female astronauts and prime
ministers, school girls are welcomed into university, women can work and have a
family, women have real choices. And so the tone and nature of IWD has, for the
past few years, moved from being a reminder about the negatives to a
celebration of the positives.
Happy
International Womans' Day
Georgios