International Women's Day (IWD) is celebrated on March 8 every year with a focus that ranges from a general celebration of respect, appreciation and love towards women to a celebration for women's economic, political, and social achievements. It started as a socialist political event with the intent of highlighting women as an emerging political and economic force and as part of the working class, especially in countries like Russia at the beginning of the 20th century. Today, this holiday has blended in the culture of many countries. In most regions, the day has lost its political spirit, and has become more of an occasion for men to express their love and admiration for women (mothers, wives, girlfriends, teachers, coworkers, etc.) in a way somewhat similar to a mixture of Mother's Day and Valentine's Day. In some regions, however, the political and human rights theme designated by the United Nations runs strong, and political and social awareness of the struggles of women worldwide are brought out and examined in a hopeful manner.
The earliest Women’s Day observance was held on February 28, 1909, in New York; it was organized by the Socialist Party of America in remembrance of the 1908 strike of the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union. In August 1910, an International Women's Conference was organized to precede the general meeting of the Socialist Second International in Copenhagen, Denmark. Inspired in part by the American socialists, German Socialist Luise Zietz proposed the establishment of an annual 'International Woman's Day' (singular) and was seconded by fellow socialist and later communist leader Clara Zetkin, although no date was specified at that conference. The following year, on March 19, 1911, IWD was marked for the first time, by over a million people in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland who went out on more thatn 300 demonstrations demanding that women be given the right to vote and to hold public office. They also protested against employment sex discrimination. From here many Americans continued to celebrate National Women's Day on the last Sunday in February, which then turned into the first Sunday of March and evolved into a March 8th celebration.
In 1978, the school district of Sonoma, California participated in Women's History Week, an event designed around the week of March 8 (International Women's Day), which propagated among many women’s organizations that began to celebrate this week as Women’s History week. In February 1980, President Jimmy Carter issued a presidential proclamation declaring the week of March 8, 1980, as National Women's History Week. In 1981, responding to the growing popularity of Women's History Congress passed a resolution, which authorized and requested the President to proclaim the week beginning March 7, 1982 as “Women’s History Week. Throughout the next several years, Congress continued to pass joint resolutions designating a week in March as Women’s History Week and schools across the country also began to have their own local celebrations of Women's History Week and even Women's History Month. By 1986, fourteen states had declared March as Women's History Month, so in 1987, after being petitioned by the National Women's History Project, Congress passed a resolution which designated the month of March 1987 as Women’s History Month
The March 8 holiday, as one might assume, celebrates the many miracles, large and small, that women perform each day. From caring for children and family to heading multi-million dollar companies, girls really do run the world. The holiday, which coincides with March's Women's History Month, asks people to celebrate the women in their life who inspire them, generally by sharing a purple flower with them. Although not all women are mothers, or wives, or girlfriends, and may not be celebrated on days like Mother’s day they all, including daughters, sisters, teachers, friends, ecclesiastic leaders and co-workers are all worthy recipients of a special lavender bloom that lets them know how much we appreciate them and how much better the world is because they are in it.
The earliest Women’s Day observance was held on February 28, 1909, in New York; it was organized by the Socialist Party of America in remembrance of the 1908 strike of the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union. In August 1910, an International Women's Conference was organized to precede the general meeting of the Socialist Second International in Copenhagen, Denmark. Inspired in part by the American socialists, German Socialist Luise Zietz proposed the establishment of an annual 'International Woman's Day' (singular) and was seconded by fellow socialist and later communist leader Clara Zetkin, although no date was specified at that conference. The following year, on March 19, 1911, IWD was marked for the first time, by over a million people in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland who went out on more thatn 300 demonstrations demanding that women be given the right to vote and to hold public office. They also protested against employment sex discrimination. From here many Americans continued to celebrate National Women's Day on the last Sunday in February, which then turned into the first Sunday of March and evolved into a March 8th celebration.
In 1978, the school district of Sonoma, California participated in Women's History Week, an event designed around the week of March 8 (International Women's Day), which propagated among many women’s organizations that began to celebrate this week as Women’s History week. In February 1980, President Jimmy Carter issued a presidential proclamation declaring the week of March 8, 1980, as National Women's History Week. In 1981, responding to the growing popularity of Women's History Congress passed a resolution, which authorized and requested the President to proclaim the week beginning March 7, 1982 as “Women’s History Week. Throughout the next several years, Congress continued to pass joint resolutions designating a week in March as Women’s History Week and schools across the country also began to have their own local celebrations of Women's History Week and even Women's History Month. By 1986, fourteen states had declared March as Women's History Month, so in 1987, after being petitioned by the National Women's History Project, Congress passed a resolution which designated the month of March 1987 as Women’s History Month
The March 8 holiday, as one might assume, celebrates the many miracles, large and small, that women perform each day. From caring for children and family to heading multi-million dollar companies, girls really do run the world. The holiday, which coincides with March's Women's History Month, asks people to celebrate the women in their life who inspire them, generally by sharing a purple flower with them. Although not all women are mothers, or wives, or girlfriends, and may not be celebrated on days like Mother’s day they all, including daughters, sisters, teachers, friends, ecclesiastic leaders and co-workers are all worthy recipients of a special lavender bloom that lets them know how much we appreciate them and how much better the world is because they are in it.
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