Celebration 8. International Women's Day - the history and traditions of the holiday
Without which holiday is it difficult to imagine the beginning of spring? Of course, without March 8. The history of the creation of the holiday on March 8 has already been forgotten by many of us. Over time, it lost its social and political significance. Now this day simply symbolizes respect, love and tenderness, which, undoubtedly, all the fair sex on the planet deserve: mothers, grandmothers, daughters, wives and sisters.
The origin of the holiday on March 8 is not known to everyone. Most of us only know about the official version. However, there is more than one story of the creation of the holiday on March 8. And each of them has a right to exist. In which of these versions to believe, everyone decides for himself.
Official version
According to the official version of the USSR, the origin of the March 8 holiday is associated with a protest march organized by textile factory workers. Women came out to protest against harsh working conditions and low wages.
It is noteworthy that the newspapers of those years did not publish a single article about such strikes. Later, historians managed to find out that in 1857, March 8 fell on a Sunday. It may seem strange that women went on strike on the day off.
There is another story. On March 8, Clara Zetkin spoke at a women's forum in Copenhagen calling for the establishment of a German communist meant that on March 8, women would be able to organize marches and rallies, thereby drawing public attention to their own problems. The date was set up for a strike by those same textile workers, which in reality never happened.
In the USSR, this holiday appeared thanks to the friend of Clara Zetkin, the fiery revolutionary Alexandra Kollontai. So in 1921 in our country, Women's Day for the first time became an official holiday.
Legend of the Jewish Queen
The opinions of historians about the origin of Clara Zetkin are divided. No one can say for sure whether she was Jewish. Some sources say that Clara was born into a Jewish family. Others claim that her father was German.
Clara Zetkin's desire to associate the holiday with the date of March 8 ambiguously indicates that she still had Jewish roots, since March 8 is celebrated on the ancient Jewish holiday - Purim.
What other versions of the creation of the holiday on March 8 are there? The history of the holiday may be connected with the history of the Jewish people. According to legend, Queen Esther, who was the beloved of King Xerxes, saved the Jews from extermination with the help of her charms. The Persian king intended to kill all the Jews, but the beautiful Esther was able to convince him not to kill the Jewish people, but, on the contrary, to exterminate all enemies, including the Persians.
Praising the queen, the Jews began to celebrate Purim. The date of the celebration has always been different and fell on the end of February - the beginning of March. However, in 1910, this day fell on March 8th.
Women of the ancient profession
According to the third version, the origin of the March 8 holiday is scandalous and unpleasant for women who are looking forward to this day.
According to some reports, in 1857, the women of New York did organize a protest, but they were not textile workers, but representatives of an ancient profession who demanded payment of wages to the sailors who used their services, since the latter could not pay them.
On March 8, 1894, women of easy virtue again held a demonstration, but already in Paris. They demanded recognition of their rights on an equal basis with other workers who are engaged in sewing clothes and baking bread, and also asked to organize trade unions for them. The following year, rallies were held in Chicago and New York.
It is noteworthy that Clara Zetkin herself participated in such actions. For example, in 1910, she and her friend took prostitutes to the streets of Germany with a demand to stop the excesses of the police. In the Soviet version, public women had to be replaced by "workers".
Why was it necessary to implement March 8?
The history of International Women's Day in Russia has a political character. March 8 is essentially an ordinary political campaign carried out by the Social Democrats. At the beginning of the 20th century, they actively protested to attract public attention. To do this, they took to the streets with posters promoting socialist appeals. This was to the advantage of the leaders of the Social Democratic Party, since progressive women were in solidarity with the party.
This is probably why Stalin ordered the recognition of March 8 as Women's Day. Because it was impossible to link the date with historical events, we had to slightly correct the story. If the leader said - it was necessary to carry out.
Women from Venus
The traditions associated with the International are no less interesting than the origin of the March 8 holiday. For example, on this day it is customary to wear purple ribbons.
And this is not surprising, because this color represents Venus, who is considered the patroness of all women. That is why all famous ladies (politicians, educators, medical workers, journalists, actresses and sportswomen) wear purple ribbons when they take part in the events on March 8th. As a rule, they take part in political rallies, women's conferences or theater performances, fairs and even fashion shows.
The meaning of the holiday
There is no city where March 8 is not celebrated. For many, the history of the origin of the holiday embodies the indomitable spirit of women fighting for equality and their own. For others, this holiday has long lost its political overtones and has become an excellent occasion to express love and respect for the fair sex.
On the day, words of congratulations on March 8 are heard everywhere. In any organization, company or educational institution, employees are honored, they are given flowers and gifts. Along with this, official events are held in the cities on the day of March 8. In Moscow, the Kremlin annually hosts a festive concert.
How is March 8 celebrated in Russia?
On the day of March 8, all women forget about household chores. All housework (cleaning, cooking, laundry) is postponed. Often, men take on all the worries in order to once a year feel the full complexity of the daily tasks that our women cope with. On this day, every representative of the fair sex should hear words of congratulations on March 8.
This holiday does not cease to be the most long-awaited for all women. On March 8, it is customary to congratulate not only close people, but also colleagues, neighbors, shop employees, doctors and teachers.
Do not skimp on kind words on this wonderful day. After all, without women, life on Earth would have ceased to exist!
The holiday, on which ladies look forward to congratulations, flowers and gifts, and men turn into gallant gentlemen and show attention to their loved ones, arose more than a century and a half ago as a day of women's struggle for their rights.
The political coloring of the holiday was washed away by time and now on March 8 everyone is celebrating the onset of spring.
International Women's Day
The holiday originated in the distant past and is closely intertwined with the ongoing struggle of women of many generations for equality with men.
According to unconfirmed reports, International Women's Day is associated with the "March of Empty Pots" that the textile workers of New York held on March 8, 1857.
Taking to the streets 161 years ago, they demanded equality, in particular, shorter working hours and equal pay conditions with men.
The police dispersed the demonstrators, but two years later they managed to create the first trade union to protect their interests, which in those days was a great achievement.
New York women again defended their rights after 51 years - this time, women's right to vote was added to their demands.
A demonstration in New York under the slogan "Bread and Roses", where bread symbolized economic security, and roses - a better quality of life, was held by 15,000 women on March 8, 1908. And in May, the Socialist Party of America proclaimed the last Sunday of February as National Women's Day.
As a result, the long-term struggle of women has borne fruit - in Germany, Austria, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, women received the right to vote in 1918, and in the USA - in 1920.
Women's Day was established as an international one at the suggestion of the German Communist Clara Zetkin at the Women's Forum in Copenhagen in 1910, which was attended by more than a hundred activists from around the world.
© photo: Sputnik / RIA Novosti
Women from different countries on International Women's Day, starting in 1911, held rallies and marches to draw public attention to their problems and eliminate gender inequality.
The first international agreement declaring the equality of men and women was the UN Charter, signed in 1945 in San Francisco. After 30 years, the UN officially established March 8 as a holiday, and 1975 as the International Year of Women.
International Women's Day March 8 since 1965 has become a holiday and non-working day in the USSR, in accordance with the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Council. Over the years, the holiday has lost its political overtones and has become simply International Women's Day - March 8th.
During Soviet times, International Women's Day was also celebrated in Georgia, but after the collapse of the Union, March 8 was abolished, like many other Soviet holidays.
The International Women's Day on March 8 again received the status of a holiday in March 2002, under the second president of Georgia, Eduard Shevardnadze.
This decision was taken by the Georgian legislature on the initiative of Nino Burjanadze, who then held the post of chairman of the parliament.
Holiday traditions
Over the past decades, the traditions of the celebration have accumulated enough, although in different countries they celebrate it differently, somewhere on a larger scale, and somewhere less.
International Women's Day in the territory of the former Soviet Union is celebrated almost everywhere, including Belarus, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Ukraine.
International Women's Day is celebrated on March 8 in China, however, only Chinese women who go to cafes and shops with their friends rest on this day. And men, after a normal working day, prepare the traditional "Pumpkin of Fidelity".
The Vietnamese on this day have a rest and celebrate the International Day of Women's Struggle for their Rights. Previously, they celebrated March 8 as a day of remembrance for the brave Trung sisters who bravely fought against China's invasion of Vietnam and died preferring death to captivity.
In Italy, March 8 is a holiday, but not a day off. On this day, Italian girls arrange bachelorette parties at discos or clubs. On the occasion of International Women's Day, men's strip clubs in Rome are offering women free entry.
International Women's Day is not celebrated in France, although special charity events are held on March 8. The money collected on this day, the French transfer to the fund of heroine mothers, so that they go on vacation.
In general, various events dedicated to women are held on International Women's Day, including exhibitions, flash mobs, concerts, and so on. On March 8, all women are given flowers and gifts, and memorable gifts and awards are given to outstanding women.
There are many traditions, but the most important of them is the special attention of men to women.
Dear men, take care of your women, indulge, give flowers and gifts all year round, and not only on March 8, and your attention will definitely return to you a hundredfold!!!
Material prepared on the basis of open sources
© Sputnik / Maria Tsimintia
On March 8, hundreds of thousands of women are celebrated annually in Ukraine. However, it is not so easy to explain why we celebrate International Women's Day on March 8 and will be like the history of this holiday in general. How "prostitutes" in history were replaced by "workers" and about the protests of women - read in the material.
And if those women to whom we owe the holiday of March 8 - suffragettes, were told that in a hundred years women would begin to prepare for this day in beauty salons, and then accept flowers, perfumes and compliments from men, these ladies would definitely come out from yourself. And the reaction of the revolutionary Clara Zetkin, who granted Women's Day the status of an annual and international one, is generally hard to imagine.
History March 8- version one, official: Day of Solidarity of Working Women
Although this version of the creation of the holiday on March 8 from the times of the USSR was recognized as official (and no other versions were considered), it has several "errors".
So, according to the official version, the holiday is associated with the "march of empty pans", which took place on March 8, 1857 in New York.At that time, women who worked in textile dyes protested against poor working conditions and low wages.During the march, they beat these same pots, demanding that they be granted a 10-hour working day instead of a 16-hour one, equal wages with men and suffrage.
The same version also speaks of the famous German communist Clara Zetkin. It is she who is often called the woman who founded the holiday on March 8. In 1910, at a women's forum in Copenhagen, Zetkin called on the world to establish International Women's Day on March 8th. She meant that on this day women would organize rallies and demonstrations, and thereby draw public attention to their problems.
Here it is also worth recalling the controversial appeal of Zetkin. She was an avid communist, which means she was ready for anything for the sake of her own convictions. In 1920, during the war between Poland and Soviet Russia, Zetkin said the following from the rostrum of the Reichstag.
Not a single wagon with weapons for the Polish troops, with machine tools for military factories built in Poland by the capitalists of the Entente, should cross the German border.
To this end, Zetkin called for the mobilization of all "conscious proletarian women" who should offer their love to any "conscious" worker who refuses to participate in the execution of military orders.
This holiday came to the then Russian Empire through Zetkin's girlfriend, the fiery revolutionary Alexandra Kollontai. The one that conquered the Soviet Union with a "big phrase".
Surrendering to the first man you meet should be as easy as drinking a glass of water.
On March 8, 1917, a women's demonstration took place in Petrograd. While two million soldiers died during the war, women came out demanding "bread and peace." This historic Sunday falls on February 23 according to the Julian calendar, or March 8 according to the Gregorian - the beginning of the Russian revolution.
Four days later, the tsar abdicated and the provisional government granted women the right to vote. March 8 became an official holiday in the USSR in 1921.
History March 8- version two: protests of prostitutes, not factory workers
This version of the origin of the holiday is perhaps the most scandalous and bad for everyone representatives of beauty gender , who await International Women 's Day with trepidation .
Detention of suffragettes in Britain
In 1857, in New York, women really protested (as we wrote above), but they were not textile workers, but prostitutes. They demanded to pay salaries to sailors, because they used their services and did not have money to pay.
Even later - March 8, 1894 - Another demonstration of prostitutes took place in Paris. This time they demanded recognition of their rights on an equal footing with those service workers who sew clothes or bake bread, and establish special unions .
Detention of suffragettes
Similar actions took place in 1895 in Chicago, and in 1896 in New York.These protests became the prerequisite for the memorable congress of suffragettes (from the English word suffrage - "suffrage") in 1910, where it was decided to declare March 8 as Women's Day and international, as Zetkin proposed.
By the way, Clara Zetkin herself also took part in such actions.In 1910, together with her friend Rosa Luxembourg, she brought prostitutes to the streets of German cities demanding an end to police excesses.But in the Soviet version, "prostitutes" were replaced by "working women."
History of March 8 - version three: honoring the Jewish queen
There is a version that Zetkin was born in the family of a Jewish shoemaker, and therefore she connected March 8 with the Jewish holiday of Purim.
According to legend, the beloved of the Persian king Xerxes, Esther, saved the Jewish people from extermination, using her charms.Xerxes wanted to exterminate all the Jews, but Esther convinced him not only not to kill the Jews, but, on the contrary, to destroy all Jewish enemies, including the Persians themselves.It happened on the 13th day of Arda according to the Jewish calendar (this month falls at the end of February- early March). Honoring Esther, the Jews began to celebrate Purim.The date of the celebration was "floating", but in 1910 it fell on March 8th.
Detention of suffragettes in Germany
Other versions
Some are convinced that March 8 is Mrs. Zetkin's birthday.Others, either jokingly or seriously, claim that on this day Clara Zetkin (Eisner) became a woman, and then decided to inscribe this intimate date in world history, disguising it as the day of "international solidarity of the female proletariat."
The version about Zetkin's birthday can be easily refuted, because, according to historical documents, she was born on July 5th. But the other - about the loss of virginity - remains only a strange assumption. The very same holiday on March 8, over the years, more and more acquires similar and unlikely legends.
Caricature of suffragettes in the press
What do we celebrate on March 8?
Speaking dryly, March 8- the usual political "PR campaign" of the Social Democrats.At the beginning of the 20th century, women protested all over Europe.And in order to attract attention, they didn’t even need to show their breasts, as modern activists do.It was enough just to walk through the streets with posters on which socialist slogans were written.
March 8 was a regular working day for a long time, only on May 8, 1965, on the eve of the 20th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War, International Women's Day on March 8 was declared a holiday in the USSR.
Detention of suffragettes
If you say that March 8is a communist relic, you can't go wrong.However, one cannot ignore the fact that, on the other hand,– it is a manifestation of the women's movement.It doesn't really matter which professions took to the streets to protest.After decades, we are only interested in the fact itself.
Detention of suffragettes
About the history of the holiday on March 8, why exactly March 8 became Women's Day, when and how it was first celebrated March 8. This is a story about the holiday of March 8 for adults and children. Teachers can use the material in this article when developing holiday class hours and scripts for March 8th.
Today, almost the entire planet celebrates March 8 as a day of worship for a real woman, her beauty, wisdom and femininity, who save the world.
From the history of the holiday on March 8
This beloved holiday on March 8 dates back to the traditions of Ancient Rome in the 1st century BC. It was believed that the goddess Juno, wife of the great Jupiter, was endowed with great power and had great opportunities. She had many names: Juno-Calendariya, Juno-Moneta. .. She gave people good weather, harvest, good luck in business and opened every month of the year. But most of all, the Romans bowed before Juno - Lucius (“bright”), patronizing women in general, and especially during childbirth. She was revered in every home, she was brought gifts upon marriage and at the birth of a child.
The most joyful for the female half of Rome was the holiday of March 1, dedicated to this goddess and called the Matrons. Then the whole city changed. Festively dressed women walked with wreaths of flowers in their hands to the temple of Juno Lucius. They prayed, brought flowers as a gift and asked their patroness for happiness in the family. It was a holiday not only for respectable Roman women, but also for slaves, whose work on this day was performed by male slaves. On March 1, men gave generous gifts to their wives, relatives and girlfriends, did not bypass the attention of maids and slaves ...
In the modern world, Women's Day is celebrated on March 8th. The history of this holiday began in the 19th century, and it was timed to coincide with the day of the struggle for women's rights. It was on March 8, 1857 that a demonstration of workers of clothing and shoe factories took place in New York. Then they demanded that they be given a ten-hour day, acceptable working conditions and equal pay with men. Before that, women worked 16 hours a day and received mere pennies for this. After March 8, 1857, women's unions began to appear, and for the first time women were given the right to vote. But only in 1910, at the International Women's Conference of Socialists in Copenhagen, Clara Zetkin was asked to celebrate World Women's Day on March 8th. It was a kind of call to women all over the world to join the struggle for independence and equality; and they responded by joining the struggle for the right to work, respect for their dignity, for peace on earth. For the first time this holiday was celebrated in 1911, but only on March 19, in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland. Then more than a million men and women took to the streets of these countries, and the demonstration was held under the slogan: "Elective rights of workers - to join forces in the struggle for socialism." In Russia, International Women's Day was first celebrated in 1913 in St. Petersburg. Its organizers called for economic and political equality for women. One of the most powerful performances of women took place in Petrograd on March 7, 1917. And in 1976, International Women's Day was officially recognized by the UN.
Today, March 8, is a holiday of spring and light, a tribute to the traditional role of a woman as a wife, mother, friend.
Who was the founder of the holidays on March 8: Clara Zetkin or Esther?
Many may have a question: was Clara Zetkin the only ancestor of March 8? Historians also believe that the celebration of this celebration is connected with the legend of Esther. Many centuries ago, she saved her people from a terrible death. Therefore, the most cheerful holiday of the Jewish people, the holiday of Purim, is dedicated to her. It is celebrated almost at the same time as International Women's Day: at the end of winter - beginning of spring, on March 4th.
Once, in 480 BC, all the Jews captured by the Babylonians gained freedom and could freely return to Jerusalem. However, there were practically no people who wanted to leave Babylon, where the Jews spent almost their entire lives. Hundreds of thousands of Jews remained in the Persian Empire, and not at all as a labor force. Many of them managed to get a very good job and earn a good living.
Over time, the Jews took root in Babylon so much that even the indigenous people no longer understood who conquered whom: the Persians of Jerusalem or the Jews of Babylon. Then one of the ministers of the powerful ruler of Xerxes - Haman - came to the king and told him that the Jews had flooded their state. Xerxes decided to exterminate all the Jews.
About the terrible plan of Xerxes, his wife Esther accidentally found out, who hid her ethnic origin from her husband (she was Jewish). Clever Esther did not beg the king for mercy, but decided to use Xerxes' love for herself. When the king was under the influence of her spell, she took from him a promise to exterminate all the enemies of her people. Xerxes agreed to everything, and only some time later he discovered that he had promised his beloved wife to destroy all the enemies of the Jews, but it was no longer possible to retreat ...
And on Adar 13 (the month of the Jewish calendar: approximately the end of February - the beginning of March), a royal decree regarding pogroms is distributed throughout the Persian Empire. But it was radically different from what was originally intended to be created: this decree of Xerxes allowed Esther and her cousin and tutor Mordecai to compose.
“And the royal scribes were called, and everything was written as Mordecai ordered to the rulers of one hundred and twenty-seven regions on behalf of the king - that the king allows the Jews who are in every city to gather and stand in defense of their lives, to destroy, to kill and destroy all the mighty in the people and in the region that are at enmity with them, children and wives, and plunder their possessions ”(Est 8, 8-11). And for two days, “all the princes in the regions, both the satraps and the executors of the king’s affairs, supported the Jews. And the Jews beat all their enemies, and destroyed them, and dealt with the enemies according to their own will" (Est 9, 3-5).
Minister Haman, who gave Xerxes the idea of exterminating the Jews, was executed by hanging along with his entire family. During this struggle, about 75 thousand Persians were destroyed. The Persian Empire was practically destroyed. The day of this significant victory for the Jews is honored and celebrated to this day.
Among the greatest sages, “there is even an opinion that when all the books of the prophets and hagiographers are forgotten, the book of Esther will still not be forgotten, and the Purim holiday will not cease to be observed.”
Perhaps this legend was true, and Esther really saved her people. And in gratitude for such a feat, the Jews honor the savior at the present time, celebrating Purim. And everyone understands that such a legend about the celebration of World Women's Day also has a right to exist.
DAY AFTER TOMORROW not only Russia, but the whole world will celebrate International Women's Day. The celebration of March 8 in modern Russia is associated primarily with an extra day off and obligatory flowers and gifts for women, while the original political and social meanings of the date are almost ignored. However, this was not always the case. We understand how International Women's Day appeared, why today March 8 is perceived differently than a hundred years ago, and how it can be celebrated.
daria tatarkova
Was March 8 always
"Women's Day"?
Yes and no. The two main gender-defined holidays have been inherited by modern Russia from Soviet times. February 23 and March 8 were not so unambiguous at the time of their occurrence. They came up with the idea of celebrating the 23rd in 1922 as the Day of the Red Army and Navy, over time the name was changed twice, and those marking quite strongly deviated from the essence. Instead of honoring military personnel, February 23 gradually became a day to celebrate all men and the idea of masculinity. A similar fate and have 8 March. Invented as a symbol of the struggle for gender equality and respect for women's work, the holiday has become just an excuse to give a woman a gift once a year, except for her birthday. In modern folklore, the essence of International Women's Day was fully expressed by the phrase "be quiet, woman, your day is March 8" (3 million results in the Yandex search), and the most popular joke on VKontakte about the holiday remains, for example, this video.
How did it appear
International Women's Day?
The date was coined by the socialist movement. In February 1909, the women of New York took to the streets demanding equal pay and giving women the right to vote - it's amazing that a century later, the question of wages is still open. German socialists and the notorious communist Clara Zetkin, along with Rosa Luxemburg, agreed at the Women's Conference the following year that a holiday was needed that would promote equal rights for women, including suffragist ideas.
The celebration reached Russia in 1913. Women's Day was not at all as peaceful as it is now, but was accompanied by rallies and demonstrations. So, on February 23, 1917, according to the old style (that is, March 8, according to the new style), the strike of textile workers and the subsequent organized procession demanding equal rights for women became one of the triggers for a further wave of protests that led to the February Revolution. Coincident in date with one of the most important turning points in the history of Russia, the holiday as a tradition has become stronger in the USSR. Until about the 70s, March 8 was primarily associated with the participants in the revolution and their successful struggle for the independence of women. One way or another, the history of the holiday in the West and in Russia shows that, first of all, it was invented as an instrument of emancipation and popularization of respect for women.
Why is it customary in Russia to give gifts on this day,
rather than strike for equal pay?
History is silent when and why marches and demonstrations were replaced by the current candy-bouquet tradition of celebrating March 8. Some authors believe that the reason for this was the conscious and consistent policy of the Soviet leadership. Already in the 1930s, the much-needed zhenotdels, which were engaged in agitation, education, assistance and the struggle for women's rights, were abolished. Thus, women have lost their social lift, and have not reached new heights in equality. Subsequent women's organizations were largely nominal. Gradually, the revolutionary theme disappeared even from postcards, and the emphasis shifted to the glorification of female beauty and motherhood, making the holiday more like Mother's Day in other countries.
In 1966, under Brezhnev, March 8 became a day off, so that the active idea of the date finally died out. Today, the holiday has finally turned into a day of following stereotypes about women. This is noticeable both in traditional gifts and in the description of International Women's Day on the Russian-language Internet. According to the Levada Center, in Russia the most popular
gifts on March 8 are flowers and sweets, as well as perfumes and cosmetics. According to VTsIOM, only 5% associate the holiday with emancipation. On the one hand, this survey shows a positive trend in terms of equality - the number of those who believe that women deserve the same privileges as men has increased by 1.5 times. On the other hand, every fifth respondent still considers men much more capable than women. The gender of the survey participants was not specified.
Where else is March 8 celebrated?
International Women's Day is recognized as an official holiday not only in Russia, North Korea and China, but also, for example, in Burkina Faso. In the rest of the world, March 8 is not considered a public holiday, but every year it is gaining more and more popularity, while maintaining a feminist bias. The main promoter of the date today is the United Nations. In 1977, the United Nations invited the participating countries to choose any day to sing the ideas of women's equality and world peace, they became March 8.
Countries that supported the UN primarily use the holiday as an occasion to raise social issues important to women. From year to year, the UN selects a priority topic on which efforts will be directed. In 2013 it was an opposition to violence against women, last year - "Equality for women - progress for all." In 2015 - "Inspiring Women - Inspiring Humanity". The purple ribbon is the symbol of the holiday.
As noted
March 8 this year?
This year's theme comes with the #MakeItHappen hashtag. In Afghanistan, men donned burkas and protested to support women's rights. In India, March 8 this year has become a date against which women continue to demand justice for the victims of violence, who are not protected by law or society. Many publications focus on remembering the origins of the date and offer to mark it not with flowers, but with a call to action and attention, such as key health issues and brave feminists in world history. Forbes explains the real difference in the salaries of men and women and gives advice on how each can improve the situation. Among other things
On March 8, the #UpForSchool petition will be launched to get world leaders to educate 31 million boys and girls around the world.
Today, the Internet plays a key role in making International Women's Day a part of global pop culture. Since 2000, the number of searches on Google in the format "International Women's Day + current year" has grown from 49 million to 196 - that is, 4 times. Specifically, in 2015, on the eve of the holiday, a hashtag appeared #DearMe, under which video bloggers send inspiring messages to themselves - a teenager from the past. This, perhaps naive approach has resonated with the audience, and girls from all over the world write grateful comments for moral support. The hashtag became number one on the service. Many YouTubers just focus on gender role-themed videos, like Kristen from Stuff Mom Never Told You. Must see sketch about "gender rolls" - behind the funny wordplay lies a clear and relevant message that it's time to stop imposing behavior patterns on us depending on biological sex. Of course, the matter is not limited to social networks. Internet favorite and UN Women's Rights Envoy Emma Watson, for example, will host a Q&A on International Women's Day and answer all the viewers' questions about sexism and inequality. By the way, this is a great way to celebrate.
Women, therefore, have
meaningful holiday,
but what about men?
What other days do they celebrate
important events for women?
The UN actively promotes March 8 as a universal date, but there are several other major holidays. One of them is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. It is celebrated on November 25 to commemorate the Mirabal sisters who were killed in the Dominican Republic. Violence against women is still an incredibly common problem that is often not brought to justice. On this day, countries are encouraged to hold events that increase publicity of the problem and talk about ways to solve it.
October 15 marks the International Day of Rural Women, whose rights are sometimes given very little attention. In South Africa, they celebrate their women's day - August 9 - and at the state level. The date is intended to commemorate the struggle of local activists against the tyranny of the apartheid government. So, on August 9, 1956, they prevented the introduction of compulsory passportization of women in South Africa.