Celebrating women

Today is 8 March – the International Women’s Day.

These days you hear a bit about it in the Australian media but not many people, and especially women, know of it or remember it.

I did actually receive some wishes this morning for Women’s Day … From my husband and a Polish girlfriend… But it’s no wonder – Women’s Day was huge in Poland. Its scale must have been due to the underlying socialist and communist ideology, and even though it was not a public holiday, it was widely celebrated in all aspects of social life.

For example, every men would bring a flower for each female colleague working with them in the office. Or men would make a money collection for flowers for all the women. Boys would bring flowers to school for their female teachers and sometimes they would be even organized to get flowers for girls in their class. Special celebrations and presentations were staged in offices, art world, media… We didn’t have Valentine’s Day but Women’s Day was huge…!

When I came here and the International Women’s Day did not even register on an Australian Richter scale, I started to think that maybe it was not really international, that maybe it was just a communist invention. Especially that as long as I’ve remembered in Poland it was a bit patronizing acknowledgement of ladies by men. Women were not really celebrating themselves, nor were they fighting for new causes or rights – it looked like they were finally noticed once a year by the other sex and given a flower not for their special talents or achievements but because of their sex. Which now I actually think was quite sexist ?…

But after a quick research this is what I’ve found out…

Women’s Day has been observed since the early 1900’s…. In 1908, 15,000 women marched through New York City demanding shorter hours, better pay and voting rights.

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 1908.

In 1910 a second International Conference of Working Women was held in Copenhagen. A woman named 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. This initiative was agreed on in Copenhagen in 1911, and International Women’s Day (IWD) was honored the first time in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland on 19 March of the same year.

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.

Preserving or winning more women rights was however not a bed of roses. There were many upheavals, retractions and ups and downs. For example, later in 1911, 140 women were killed by police in NY during ideological marches. Men liked their powers and they were not likely to loosen their grip on social order of the day so easily…

Everybody agrees that the pill avalanched the next stage of feminism. Therefore women’s movements were the strongest to the end of 1970’s. Today probably not many young women know about the straggles of feminists and how much we owe to them.

These days the International Women’s Day is even a national holiday in a number of countries!! But like with so many other things do we really recognize what it’s all about?…