International Women’s day is an official holiday honoring women and their accomplishments. It is celebrated on March 8th around the world in countries as varied as Madagascar, Armenia, Kazakhstan, and the United States, and it has been celebrated on this day ever since 1914. Yet, up until a few days ago, I didn’t know it even existed. I was shocked—I’m 19 years old, active in the female community, enrolled in a Women’s studies course, and am a blossoming feminist. How did I not know about this?
It has crossed my mind before that there should be such a day, but why was I so quick to assume it didn’t exist? I went to a high school that was sure to let its students know when it was “National Pudding Day” or “National Rubber Ducky Day,” but never informed us about a day that celebrated over half of the population of the planet. Finally, why was this not a day that every person was aware of and an active participant in, instead of days on which we watch a rodent crawl out of a hole and provide us with a weather prediction?
Every possible answer I thought of managed to both infuriate me and depress me so I decided to make up for the years of missed chances to express my love of the people with whom I share a chromosome pattern with the only way I know how—I decided to write about it.
A Quick History Lesson
The first National Women’s Day was held on February 18th, 1909, one year after 15,000 women marched through New York City and demanded better working conditions and women’s suffrage. At the time, it was observed strictly in the US, and it was not until 1910, when Ciara Zetkin, the leader of the ‘Women’s Office’ for the Social Democratic Party in Germany, proposed at the second International Conference of Working Women that there be a day where all the women of the world would press for equal rights. The holiday was celebrated on March 8th for the first time by Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland by more than one million women and men who came together to fight for equal rights for women. Yet, it was not until 1914 that the day was moved permanently to March 8th.
Through the years, both women and their holiday have been growing in power. In 1975, United Nations even pronounced the year as the “International Women’s Year.”
Interestingly enough, the UN has remained its more progressive stance on the day and women since then. A graph on the holiday’s official website displaying the amount of registered International Women’s Day events shows that the UN has double the amount of events as the United States is currently holding. The UN also ranks 18th on the list of 25 best countries for women’s rights, four places above the United States who sit at the unattractive spot of the 22nd best country. We’re number one…right?
International Women’s Day in the 21st Century
Today, the holiday is celebrated almost everywhere in the world with events that honor women’s advancement and rallies to continue to fight for equal rights for women. Regardless of how far we have come, we are still paid only 72 cents for every dollar that a male in same job earns, and women hold only 14.3 percent of executive positions at Fortune 500 companies and 16 percent of the seats in congress. Outside of the workforce, women represent 70 percent of the world’s poor, face higher risks for contracting sexually transmitted diseases, and suffer through enough indecencies that I could fill book after book. However, I only have the space of an article. That being said, let’s talk about how to get involved and get informed.
Here in Pittsburgh, The Thomas Merton Center, an organization that “…works to build a consciousness of values and to raise the moral questions involved in the issues of war, poverty, racism, classism, economic justice, oppression and environmental justice” will be holding an event on the holiday entitled “International Women’s Day: Call to Action.” They will be screening the 2012 “Best Documentary Feature” nomination for the 85th Academy Awards, “The Invisible War,” which exposes sexual assault in the United States military. The celebration will also include a dramatic reading and speakers Francine Porter, Joyce Wagner, Edith Bell, and Scilla Wahrhaftig. Two of the speakers have directly experienced abuse related to military interaction as highlighted in the documentary. The center’s managing director, Diane McMahon, describes the purpose of the event to raise awareness about the mistreatment of women in the military and to get people and Congress more involved with “…the way women are treated in the military as far as rape and how women cannot achieve high-ranking positions.” For women who want to become involved in the national movement, they can visit the center’s website for more information and become aware of upcoming events as McMahon has plans of organizing something at the Pittsburgh level in the nearby future. The event will be held at the Friend’s Meeting House on 4836 Ellsworth Avenue at 7 p.m. and is within walking distance from campus.
If you can’t make this event, although I urge you to try all your power to do so, you aren’t out of luck. March 8th may be International Women’s day, but the entire month of March is International Women’s month in America. Some other events include “Sisterhood in Pittsburgh: Women’s Liberation from the 1960s to Today” at the Heinz History Center on March 14th, and “Miss Representations: Screening and Panel Discussion,” a showing of the award-winning documentary on mainstream media’s role in the lack of representation of women in positions of power which will be held here on campus at the Frick Fine Arts Building on March 22nd. The event is free to all students.
After spending time researching International Women’s day, I grew curious. Is there an interesting men’s day? There is—officially, its November 19th. Unofficially, its everyday. This may be a heavy-handed statement, but until women have equal rights and equal opportunities as men, I’ll be thinking it.
Until then,
Danielle Fox
Link for “International Women’s Day: Call to Action”
www.facebook.com/events/557373354273342/?fref=ts
International Women’s Day Website
http://www.internationalwomensday.com/
Thomas Merton Center Website
http://thomasmertoncenter.org/
Female Statistics
http://www.confidencecoalition.org/statistics-women
http://www.trickleup.org/poverty/women.cfm?gclid=CJ6Ht8zU6bUCFWfNOgodO2cAlw
Photo Credit:
http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/421831_490712267658365_1358141327_n.png