Just a little side note... International Women's Day was March 8th, and I'm fully aware that I posted a blog post on that day, but I didn't realize that it was that day before posting that. I would've done one about this if I had known that same day, but oh well. I'm only a few days off... More like 15 days, but still. International Women's Day is a day where we celebrate women and everything that women have done. This day also helps to stop the gender stereotypes and helps women feel heard in a male dominated world. It's to have gender equality!! There is an actual timeline that is on the official website (which I'll leave a link to that website at the end of this article), and I wanted to put that timeline on here just cuz. 1908 - Women had become more vocal for a change in the gender inequality. In 1908, 15,000 women had marched all throughout New York for various things such as shorter hours, better pay, and voting rights. 1909 - The first National Women's Day was observed February 28th across the America. National Women's Day had continued to be observed on the last Sunday of February up until 1913. 1910 - A lady named Clara Zetkin, who was the leader of the Women's Office for the Social Democratic Party in Germany, had proposed the idea that instead of it just being National Women's Day, it should be International Women's Day. She said that in every country, there should be a day where women are being celebrated for their accomplishments. The idea was greeted with a unanimous approval. 1911 - International Women's Day was first celebrated in Austria, Denmark, Germany, and Switzerland on March 19th. There were more than a million people who went to the rallies that were campaigning for women's rights to work, vote, be trained, to hold public office, and to end discrimination. A few days later on March 25th, the "Triangle Fire" in New York city occurred. That event had killed 140 working women. The Bread and Roses campaign had also occurred in 1911 1913-1914 - On the eve of World War I campaigning for peace, Russian women observed their first International Women's Day on February 23rd, the last Sunday in February. Following discussions, International Women's Day was agreed to be marked annually on March 8th that translated in the widely adopted Gregorian calendar from February 23rd - and this day has remained the global date for International Women's Day ever since. In 1914, further women across Europe held rallies to campaign against the war and to express women's solidarity. 1917 - On the last Sunday of February, Russian women began a strike for "bread and peace" in response to the death of over 2 million Russian soldiers in WW1. Opposed by political leaders, the women continued to strike until four days later the Czar was forced to abdicate and the provisional Government granted women the right to vote. The date the women's strike commenced was Sunday, February 23rd on the Julian calendar then in use in Russia, which is on March 8th on the Gregorian calendar. A calendar that everyone else uses. 1975 - International Women's Day was celebrated for the first time by the United Nations in 1975. Then in December 1977, the General Assembly adopted a resolution proclaiming a United Nations Day for Women’s Rights and International Peace to be observed on any day of the year by Member States, in accordance with their historical and national traditions.
2000 - By the new millennium, there was little activity occurring for International Women's Day in most countries. The world had moved on and feminism wasn't a popular topic. Something was needed to re-ignite International Women's Day giving it the respect it deserves and to raise awareness amongst the masses. There was urgent work to do. Battles had not been won and gender equality still had not been achieved. 2001 - The internationalwomensday.com platform was launched with the specific purpose of re-energizing the day - a focus which continues to this day - celebrating and making visible the achievements of women while continuing the call for accelerating gender parity. The website, which provides useful guidance and resources, adopts an annual campaign theme that is globally relevant for groups and organizations. The campaign theme, one of many around the world, provides a framework and direction for annual IWD activity and takes into account the wider agenda of both celebration as well as the call to action for gender parity. 2011 - 2011 saw the 100 year centenary of International Women's Day, with the first International Women's Day event held exactly 100 years ago in 1911 in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland. In the United States, President Barack Obama proclaimed March 2011 to be "Women's History Month", calling Americans to mark International Women's Day by reflecting on "the extraordinary accomplishments of women" in shaping the country's history. The then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton launched the "100 Women Initiative: Empowering Women and Girls through International Exchanges". In the United Kingdom, celebrity activist Annie Lennox lead a march across one of London's iconic bridges raising awareness in support for global charity Women for Women International. Further charities such as Oxfam have run extensive International Women's Day activity. 2011 and Beyond - The world has witnessed a significant change and attitudinal shift in both women's and society's thoughts about women's equality and emancipation. Many from a younger generation may feel that 'all the battles have been won for women' while many feminists from the 1970's know only too well the longevity and ingrained complexity of patriarchy. With more women in the boardroom, greater equality in legislative rights, and an increased critical mass of women's visibility as impressive role models in every aspect of life, one could think that women have gained true equality. The unfortunate fact is that women are still not paid equally to that of their male counterparts, women still are not present in equal numbers in business or politics, and globally women's education, health and the violence against them is worse than that of men. However, great improvements have been made. We do have female astronauts and prime ministers, school girls are welcomed into university, women can work and have a family, women have real choices.
So, if you got anything out of this is that women should be treated with respect and celebrated just like men are. It shouldn't have come to the fact that women had to go through the women's suffrage and rallying for their rights. The world shouldn't have ben so blind about everything that women are capable of and just not think twice about us. We are people too. We matter just like men do.
So, take some time to thank all the women in your life. They are stronger than you may think.
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AuthorJust your average 18 year old girl that enjoys writing, and wants to spread awareness to things that are important to me and write about random stuff! Archives
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