It’s International Women’s Day! Woo-hoo! Ok, but wait, why does this day even exist and why is it celebrated around the world?
International Women’s Day falls on the 8th of March, a day where the world celebrates the achievements of women and a day for society to remember that women matter — yes, making up half of the world’s population, I would say we matter quite a bit. This is also the day where we may hear the voices of our youth and the voices of the females who paved the way for us, reminding us “You’ve come a long way baby”, “I am woman, hear me roar”, “You Go, Girl”, and more.
The first recorded International Women’s Day was held on March 19, 1911 throughout the countries of Austria, Denmark, Germany, and Switzerland where more than one million people showed up to attend rallies that would shine a spotlight and bring attention to the plight of women in society. This pivotal moment in women’s history led to a movement that spread and sparked celebrations in other countries. In 1921, the official date for International Women’s Day became March 8th. This date was carefully chosen as International Women’s Day as a way to pay homage to a group of brave women from St. Petersburg, Russia, who on March 8, 1917 chose to stage a strike to protest food shortages, poor living conditions, and World War I.
Although the origins for this holiday can be traced back as far as the 1900’s, the United Nations (UN) didn’t officially sponsor the modern day IWD until 1975. Those early pioneering women of the 1900’s started a movement for women’s rights and equality in response to the struggles women faced during the expansion and turbulent times of the industrial revolution.
Women today have a lot to be thankful for from those early pioneering women who fought for the right to vote, to the women in the 60’s and 70’s that fought for equal rights, and to the millennial women who brought sexual harassment and sex trafficking to the forefront all to bring change for the female population of the world. The fight for women’s rights has been going on for more than a century and will continue until society and women are valued and treated with equal respect.
It’s also important on a day like today, to be aware of how creating stereotypes and constantly judging women for being who they want to be in spite of the opinions of others, is hurting the fight for equality. It’s important as women that we support each other even when we may not agree on every issue or even when we are from a different socio-economic, religious, political or other diverse background. To advance women’s rights and issues, we need to find common ground and work towards progress.
The need to compare ourselves to other women is one of the biggest stumbling blocks to living in a society where women are truly valued. So, while we celebrate women’s achievements on March 8th, let’s remember to respect each other every other day of the year. As long as we are striving to be our best, with our unique skills and abilities, what other people think we should be doing with our lives is not anybody’s business. Let’s not judge a woman on her degree or lack of degree, the shapes of her body, her marital status, the number of kids she has, whether or not she has ink or how she chooses to spend her money. The stay-at-home mom and the corporate female CEO are both deserving of our support and respect.
So go and celebrate the goddesses we are. Take this day to consciously find another woman to support, tell them that they are a Rockstar, lend a hand to another woman in need, and just be kind to everyone regardless of their gender.
