Since the early 1900s, International Women’s Day has celebrated women’s achievements and roles in society.
March is especially significant in the fight for women’s liberation as it contains National Women’s History Month International Women’s Day.
Since the International Women’s Day celebration in Germany on March 8th in 1914, International Women’s Day has been celebrated worldwide on March 8th.
The theme for IWD this year is “choose to challenge”, emphasizing the importance of resilience and challenging inequality. Join this global campaign by sending in a picture here.
Engulfed in the bold and bright colors of purple, green and white, International Women’s Day is not focused on targeting any specific issues or places. Rather, its aim is to be a forum through which women globally can make a difference through philanthropy and collaboration.
International Women’s Day has created missions in the spheres of women creatives, technology, sports, health, work and empowerment. Hoping to celebrate and inspire, IWD has created platforms with resources and articles about trailblazing and iconic women in these fields.
In 1980, Women’s History Month officially was recognized nationally when president Jimmy Carter designated the first “Women’s History Week.”
With further pushing from Congress in 1995 the president extended “Women’s History Week” into “National Women’s History Month.”
Each year the National Women’s History Alliance selects a theme for the month. This March the theme is “Valiant Women of the Vote: Refusing to Be Silenced” due to many of the planned centennial women’s suffrage celebrations forced to be canceled due to the pandemic.
Inequalities are still so prevalent in contemporary society: pay discrepancies, gender violence and health gaps. Through honoring and learning more about women throughout history, National Women’s Month aims to bridge the efforts of past women leaders while paving the way for future leaders to continue to yield changes in society.
National brands such as Hershey’s, Secret, and Barbie have all come up with creative ways to honor National Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day.
Hershey’s has created the Celebrate HerSHEy’s bar and plans on distributing these special bars to the first 1,000 customers at its four Chocolate World locations on International Women’s Day.
Secret deodorant partnered up with YWCA to share stories of women facing economic hardship due to the pandemic and has pledged $1 million dollars toward this campaign called “Secret Superhero Moms”.
Barbie has released an inspiring women series, including dolls depicting Maya Angelou, Susan B. Anthony, Eleanor Rosevelt and others.
While traditional celebrations can’t take place due to COVID-19, there are still so many ways to honor both National Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day. Check out a few of these iconic feminist books to be inspired by many strong and sensational women. Watch some of these female-directed and women-led movies with some friends. Reach out to fellow women and offer to mentor them. Write a thank you letter to inspiring and influential women in your life. Support female-owned businesses. As always, make sure to stay updated on gender statistics and contemporary issues affecting women.
Most importantly, continue to support and celebrate all the amazing women in our lives.