As it is international women’s day was the 8th March I thought all women should be celebrated!
International Women’s Day is now an official holiday in Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, China (for women only), Cuba, Georgia, Guinea-Bissau, Eritrea, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Madagascar (for women only), Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Nepal (for women only), Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Vietnam and Zambia. The tradition sees men honouring their mothers, wives, girlfriends, colleagues, etc with flowers and small gifts. In some countries International Women’s Day has the equivalent status of Mother’s Day where children give small presents to their mothers and grandmothers.
I am currently writing this from Vietnam as I am working out here ‘til the beginning of May. International Women’s Day is taken a lot more serious in Vietnam than in Britain. I have already been given two cakes to celebrate it! The men are only allowed a slice of cake if the woman agrees to it. In Vietnam there is International Women’s Day and Mother’s Day but no male related holidays. The women at the office I am working in-joke that this is due to every other day of the year being a man’s day…
Anyway here is short history of International Women’s Day.
1909:
The first National Woman’s Day was in the United States on 28 February. The Socialist Party of America designated this day in honour of the 1908 garment workers’ strike in New York, where women protested against working conditions.
1910:
The Socialist International, meeting in Copenhagen, established a Women’s Day, international in character, to honour the movement for women’s rights and to build support for achieving universal suffrage for women. The proposal was greeted with unanimous approval by the conference of over 100 women from 17 countries, which included the first three women elected to the Finnish Parliament. No fixed date was selected for the observance.
1911:
As a result of the Copenhagen initiative, International Women’s Day was marked for the first time (19 March) in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland, where more than one million women and men attended rallies. In addition to the right to vote and to hold public office, they demanded women’s rights to work, to vocational training and to an end to discrimination on the job.
1913-1914:
International Women’s Day also became a mechanism for protesting World War I. As part of the peace movement, Russian women observed their first International Women’s Day on the last Sunday in February. Elsewhere in Europe, on or around 8 March of the following year, women held rallies either to protest the war or to express solidarity with other activists.
1917:
Against the backdrop of the war, women in Russia again chose to protest and strike for ‘Bread and Peace’ on the last Sunday in February (which fell on 8 March on the Gregorian calendar). Four days later, the Czar abdicated and the provisional Government granted women the right to vote.
Since those early years, International Women’s Day has assumed a new global dimension for women in developed and developing countries alike. The growing international women’s movement, which has been strengthened by four global United Nations women’s conferences, has helped make the commemoration a rallying point to build support for women’s rights and participation in the political and economic arenas. Increasingly, International Women’s Day is a time to reflect on progress made, to call for change and to celebrate acts of courage and determination by ordinary women who have played an extraordinary role in the history of their countries and communities.
I do wish International Women’s Day was celebrated more in Britain (not just for the cake!) Women have made huge progress in over the last hundred years. Internationally we have seen improvements in education, career opportunities, better childcare and enfranchisement. Although it is arguable in some countries changes have not been as dramatic or quick it is ever improving.
Photo Credits:
blogs.fco.gov.uk
english.cinet.vn