Today is International Women’s Day. Started officially by the UN in 1914, (although first celebrated on February 28th 1910 in New York), International Women’s Day is a day to celebrate the achievenments of women and advocate for gender parity. Different countries celebrated in different ways. According to my Chinese professor, Chinese teachers receive gift cards to get massages and facials. In India, there was a non-stop all-female flight from New Delhi to San Francisco including 20 staff members and 250 passengers. There are campaigns like “A Day Without Women” and other protest around the world to remind us how important women are to our system and how much inequality they still face. On our campus, the WGC and other groups are holding events for students to appreciate themselves and the women who made a difference in their lives.
As we remember the Ida B. Wells, the Susan B. Anthonys, the the Lee Tai-youngs, and the Ada Lovelaces, let’s also remember the mothers, grandmothers, aunts, sisters, teachers, construction workers, soldiers, college staff…the other less profile women who make a difference in OUR individual lives. I encourage you to also think about the stay-at-home moms and other non-working women who make a difference in their community by volunteering at various organizations. It’s important to make all members of our community feel special and days like today give us a great platform to do so!