Ozioma Onyenweaku
This is the month of March. Everywhere around the world what has been on the headlines and the lips of many is ‘Women’s Day’. This is because every year, around the globe, March 8 is celebrated as International Women’s Day, IWD for short.
What really is the International Women’s Day? Is it a movement, a protest, or concert? When, why and how did the world start celebrating women?
The International Women’s Day has, therefore, become a day to celebrate how far women have come in their diverse societies, in politics and in economics; and to remind women that they need to keep pushing for gender equality.
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Over the centuries, women have had some man-made limitations placed on their growth, their development, and their careers. At one time, women did not even have a say in affairs concerning them or involving them. Institutional structures, cultural, economic and societal, have served to favour men and limit women’s chances and abilities to take part in decision makings.
International Women’s Day grew out of the labour movement which arose to address the unfair and discriminatory treatment against women particularly in the garment industry. On November 23, 1909, Clara Lemlich gave a speech that inspired a strike. That strike had over 200, 000 women walk out of about 500 shops in New York. The women marched through New York City demanding shorter working hours, better pay and the right to vote. That action was quite productive.
Then a year later, the Socialist Party of America declared the first National Woman’s Day.
It was Clara Zetkin who brought up the idea of making the day an international day. She made that suggestion in 1910 at an International Conference of Working Women in Copenhagen. In attendance were 100 women from 17 countries, and they unanimously subscribed to Zetkin’s idea of making the day an international event.
When Clara Zetkin brought up the idea of making IWD an international event, she did not suggest a particular date. The event was not even formalised until 1917 when Russian women, in a war-time strike, demanded “bread and peace”. Four days into the women’s strike, the Tsar was forced to abdicate, and the women right to vote was granted by the provisional government.
This women strike started on 23 February 1917 on the Julian calendar then in use in Russia. That date in the Gregorian calendar was 8 March; and that’s how the date for IWD came to be 8th March.
According to the International Women’s Day Website, purple, green and white are the colours of the International women’s day. Purple is said to signify justice and dignity, while green and white signify hope and purity respectively.
The International Women’s Day was first celebrated in 1911 in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland. The Day was eventually recognized by United Nation, who joined in the celebration.
The first theme adopted by the UN was “Celebrating the past, Planning for the Future”.
Over the years, women have achieved a lot in breaking the shackles to the growth and development of their full potential. There is still much to be achieved.
The International Women’s Day has, therefore, become a day to celebrate how far women have come in their diverse societies, in politics and in economics; and to remind women that they need to keep pushing for gender equality.
Basically, the purpose of the International women’s day is to uphold women’s achievements, celebrate acts of courage and dtermination by the women, reflect on progress made, recognize challenges, call for change, and focus greater attention on pressing areas of inequality.
Possibly in recognition of the inauguration of Kamala Harris, this year, as the first female, first black and first Asian-American US vice president, the UN announced their theme for 2021 International Women’s Day as “Women in leadership: Achieving an equal future in a Covid-19 world”.
However, the International Women’s Day website provides another theme which it says is designed to “provide a platform to help forge positive change for women.” The theme is #ChooseToChallenge. By this theme, the IWD is asking people to “raise your hand high to show you’re in and that you commit to choose to challenge and call out inequality”.
Yes, challenge to bring about a positive change. Nothing changes unless it is challenged. All the positive changes that the world has witnessed and are benefitting from have been brought about by people who were courageous enough to challenge the status quo.
I choose to challenge babies being born in prison, violence against women, maltreatment of widows and fatherless children, sexual abuse of minors and rape; I challenge inequalities, and all other ills against women and children.
#IWD
#IChooseTochallenge
#InternationalWomen’sDay2021