Women's Day or Day of Struggle for Equality

(Patria) - International Women's Day, celebrated worldwide on March 8, aims to "inspire women around the world and highlight their achievements".

It was first celebrated on February 28, 1909, in the United States as National Women's Day, following a declaration by the Socialist Party of America in the context of a campaign for higher wages and voting rights for women.

International Women's Day was institutionalized thanks to Clara Zetkin, an activist and leader of the 'Women's Office' of the German Social Democratic Party, who proposed the idea of celebrating the holiday in every country on the same day.

European countries such as Denmark, Germany, Switzerland, and Austria celebrated International Women's Day for the first time in 1911 with mass demonstrations for the right to vote, work, education, participation in political life, and the abolition of discrimination.

The celebration was moved to March 8 in 1913 and has remained so to this day.

The United Nations officially recognized International Women's Day in 1975 and has sponsored it ever since.

Who Celebrates Women's Day

When it comes to women's rights, the world is a place of high contrast and poor resolution. While at one end of the world women are disenfranchised citizens of the lowest order, not even included in population statistics, and can be killed without consequence, in developed parts of the planet, women lead kingdoms, countries, large corporations, and globally popular TV shows, and hold high positions on the world's highest-paid lists. In countries at the other extreme, girls and women are victims of human trafficking, serve in slavery, or enter into arranged marriages with old men as early as 10-11 years old. They have never been granted basic human rights. In countries at the other end of this dramatic continuum, girls and young women are discovered film or music talents who receive millions for their first role, sums they cannot even read.

At the same time, some women who achieve rights increasingly ask themselves questions about the essential benefit of women's emancipation, as they have retained their female roles while taking on male roles. In this multifaceted role, women are mothers, wives, and businesswomen, which can seem like a lot during days of increased stress due to major obligations and life challenges. However, freedom and rights are not traded, even if it means potentially less stress (which is not provable in itself).

Women's Expectations and Men's Obligations

In our country, March 8 is mostly associated with women's expectations and men's obligations. Workplace parties, gatherings of women in male or their own organizations, and gifts that men give to women or women give to each other. Women who are not married or in a romantic relationship, or who do not have children or caring family members, or have family members who cannot afford to buy gifts, may feel neglected, thus associating this major world holiday with feelings of sadness, abandonment, and self-pity. How wrong, but very understandable. Because if Women's Day were viewed as an anniversary of successful women's struggle for rights, rather than through the size of a bouquet or perfume, women would feel at least a fraction of the solidarity and pride of women worldwide due to the global struggle for women's rights. Perhaps on that day, they would remember the girls, young women, and women living in the harshest conditions. Perhaps they would pay tribute to them with silence. Perhaps they would not think about their own fate of a too-small bouquet.

At the same time, everything is commercialized to remind women of expectations, men of obligations, and the neglected of their situation. The commercialization of the holiday to remind of the opportunity and encourage purchases is acceptable because we live in a consumer society - one must sell and earn. However, the problem is that Women's Day in our country is celebrated solely in a consumerist way, while the message or events related to the true meaning of Women's Day are almost non-existent.

The fact that we still talk about women's organizations, women's associations within political parties, women's movements, women's evenings, women's parties, etc., indicates that true equality still does not exist. It seems to women that they constantly have to unite so that larger, male "conglomerates" listen to them and ultimately – integrate them. Or perhaps it is a wrong perception and a line of least resistance for a number of women due to the paterfamilias structure adopted in childhood, which they pass on to their secondary families and even to the view of the entire community? Or is it, after all, about real resistance from men towards women, which in certain situations can be measured by male chauvinism – again due to learned patterns from childhood. It is likely that both assumptions are at play.

Therefore, we look to the 21st-century society, of which we are a part, to resolve the issue of differences and diversity by introducing laws and obligations that determine the number of women in political and public positions.

Therefore, we look to the women of the 21st century to take the necessary step towards society and help it become (and remain) inclusive. Because it is difficult to be inclusive if the other side does not want to approach.

Patria wishes you a Happy Women's Day.