International Women's Day
Every year on March 8, International Women’s Day is celebrated to honor women’s achievements, raise awareness about equality for women, encourage accelerated gender parity, and fundraise for female-focused charities. Although it is now an international holiday, it was first celebrated in Austria, Denmark, Germany, and Switzerland on March 19, 1911, after a unanimous approval of the idea made by Clara Zetkin. Then in 1917, Russian women began a strike in response to the death of more than 2 million Russian soldiers in World War 1. These women continued to strike even though they were opposed by political leaders until four days later when the Czar was forced to give up and the Russian Provisional Government granted women the right to vote. In that time, Russia did not use the Gregorian calendar and instead used the Julian calendar. The date that the women’s strike began was Sunday, February 23 on the Julian calendar. This date corresponded to March 8 on the Gregorian calendar, therefore making it the day that would later become International Women’s Day. International Women’s Day was first celebrated by the United Nations in 1975, 64 years after the first celebration. Since announcing the first annual theme in 1976 as “Celebrating the past, Planning for the future”, the United Nations has come up with a theme every year following. The theme for 2021 is ‘Choose to Challenge’ as even though major improvements of gender equality have been made since the early 1900’s, women are still not paid equally compared to their male counterparts, numbers of women in business and politics are still not equivalent to men, and the violence against them is worse than men. Today, International Women’s Day is celebrated all over the world, in all different countries. Every year, the holiday connects women around the world through different activities such as political rallies, business conferences, government activities, theatrical performances, parades and more. This year, the International Institute of New England is holding an International Women’s Day celebration virtually on Monday, March 8, 2021, at 12 p.m.
Every year on March 8, International Women’s Day is celebrated to honor women’s achievements, raise awareness about equality for women, encourage accelerated gender parity, and fundraise for female-focused charities. Although it is now an international holiday, it was first celebrated in Austria, Denmark, Germany, and Switzerland on March 19, 1911, after a unanimous approval of the idea made by Clara Zetkin. Then in 1917, Russian women began a strike in response to the death of more than 2 million Russian soldiers in World War 1. These women continued to strike even though they were opposed by political leaders until four days later when the Czar was forced to give up and the Russian Provisional Government granted women the right to vote. In that time, Russia did not use the Gregorian calendar and instead used the Julian calendar. The date that the women’s strike began was Sunday, February 23 on the Julian calendar. This date corresponded to March 8 on the Gregorian calendar, therefore making it the day that would later become International Women’s Day. International Women’s Day was first celebrated by the United Nations in 1975, 64 years after the first celebration. Since announcing the first annual theme in 1976 as “Celebrating the past, Planning for the future”, the United Nations has come up with a theme every year following. The theme for 2021 is ‘Choose to Challenge’ as even though major improvements of gender equality have been made since the early 1900’s, women are still not paid equally compared to their male counterparts, numbers of women in business and politics are still not equivalent to men, and the violence against them is worse than men. Today, International Women’s Day is celebrated all over the world, in all different countries. Every year, the holiday connects women around the world through different activities such as political rallies, business conferences, government activities, theatrical performances, parades and more. This year, the International Institute of New England is holding an International Women’s Day celebration virtually on Monday, March 8, 2021, at 12 p.m.
We need to have women from the past and present pave the way for future generations. While there are many to honor, some of the significant women include Malala Yousafzai, Ruby Bridges, Anne Frank, Clara Zetkin, Rosa Parks, Michelle Obama, Amelia Earhart, Eleanor Roosevelt, Helen Keller, and Kamala Harris just to name a few.
We need to have women from the past and present pave the way for future generations. While there are many to honor, some of the significant women include Malala Yousafzai, Ruby Bridges, Anne Frank, Clara Zetkin, Rosa Parks, Michelle Obama, Amelia Earhart, Eleanor Roosevelt, Helen Keller, and Kamala Harris just to name a few.