Happy International Women’s Day

The first International Women’s Day was observed by Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland on March 19, 1911.  International Women’s Day was conceived in 1910 at the second annual International Conference of Working Women, held in Copenhagen, Denmark.  Over 100 women from 17 countries unanimously agreed to an International Women’s Day to be used to advocate for their demands, including women’s rights to work, vote, receive training, and hold public office. 

In 1913, March 8 was named International Women’s Day and it has remained so for nearly 100 years.  International Women’s Day has become a global day of recognition and celebration.  International Women’s Day is a national holiday in China, Armenia, Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Macedonia, Moldova, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Vietnam.

International Women’s Day encourages people to think globally and act locally by doing their part to ensure that the future for girls is bright, equal, safe and rewarding.

In celebration, The Global Fund for Women has listed the Top Ten Wins for Women’s Movements in 2010. Their list includes the creation of UN Women, a 34% drop in maternal deaths worldwide and the first use of CEDAW (Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women) in a rape case in the Philippines.

But our work isn’t done, as Daniel Craig (James Bond) and Judi Dench (M) point out in their video for the EQUALS Project. You can see it on youtube here.

The sensationalist take is “James Bond in drag!” How exciting! How funny to see Daniel Craig in a dress! But the real power of the video is Judi Dench’s narration: After reeling off the data (70 million girls denied education, 60 million sexually assaulted on their way to school, 1 in 4 women are victims of domestic violence) she asks, “So, are we equals? Until the answer is yes, we must never stop asking.” I’ve watched the video at least a half dozen times and I still get a little chill.

Never stop asking, and never stop fighting for equality either. To that end, Equality Now (a fabulous organization working for the protection and promotion of women’s human rights around the world) has compiled a list of 100 Steps to Equality for the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day. The top action is opposing the Afghan government’s plan to take over women’s shelters. The list also includes actions on female genital mutilation, child marriage and anti-trafficking laws.

According to Equality Now: “Through this eclectic list and global snapshot, we have tried to summarize the harsh realities of women’s lives entangled in myriad forms of violence and discrimination everywhere. To combat these abuses that affect women and girls’ lives, individuals and groups in the smallest corners of the world are fighting back and urging their governments and societies to end human violations against women and girls. Our responsibility is to support these efforts, in whichever way we can: call, write a letter or send an email to the powers that can effect change; or a send a check to groups on the ground or to Equality Now. The power of one individual to take action is critical; but together, we are key in making this world a better and safer place for everyone.”

Happy International Women’s Day everyone.

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Women’s History Month: A History (or Herstory, if you prefer)

If I were organized, this would have been the first post. But I missed it. So here goes.

A Brief History/Herstory

[Originally based upon About Women’s History Month and written by me for WHM 2009]

In 1978, the Education Task Force of the Sonoma County Commission on the Status of Women, in California, created a Women’s History Week.  The committee chose the week of March 8 to coincide with International Women’s Day. The program was successful and well received and began to expand.

In 1979, organizers presented their project to the Women’s History Institute at Sarah Lawrence College.  Participants determined to celebrate their own Women’s History Week in their communities, and to petition Congress to declare a National Women’s History Week.

Two years later, in 1981, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Rep. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) cosponsored the first Joint Congressional Resolution proclaiming Women’s History Week.  Women’s History Week grew into Women’s History Month in 1987 and has been celebrated ever since.

This sample proclamation, reprinted from the National Woman’s History Project website, is based upon the Congressional Resolution first issued in 1987:

• Whereas American women of every race, class, and ethnic background have made historic contributions to the growth and strength of our Nation in countless recorded and unrecorded ways;
• Whereas American women have played and continue to play a critical economic, cultural, and social role in every sphere of the life of the Nation by constituting a significant portion of the labor force working inside and outside of the home;
• Whereas American women have played a unique role throughout the history of the Nation by providing the majority of the volunteer labor force of the Nation;
• Whereas American women were particularly important in the establishment of early charitable, philanthropic, and cultural institutions in our Nation;
• Whereas American women of every race, class, and ethnic background served as early leaders in the forefront of every major progressive social change movement;
• Whereas American women have been leaders, not only in securing their own rights of suffrage and equal opportunity, but also in the abolitionist movement, the emancipation movement, the industrial labor movement, the civil rights movement, and other movements, especially the peace movement, which create a more fair and just society for all; and
• Whereas despite these contributions, the role of American women in history has been consistently overlooked and undervalued, in the literature, teaching and study of American history:
• Now, therefore, be it resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, that March is designated as “Women’s History Month.” The President is authorized and requested to issue a proclamation for each of these months, calling upon the people of the United States to observe those months with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities.

This year’s Presidential Proclamation–Women’s History Month 2011 by President Barack Obama (those three words still make me smile) is also quite nice. It begins “During Women’s History Month, we reflect on the extraordinary accomplishments of women and honor their role in shaping the course of our Nation’s history….In honor of the pioneering women who came before us, and in recognition of those who will come after us, this month, we recommit to erasing the remaining inequities facing women in our day.

“NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim March 2011 as Women’s History Month.  I call upon all Americans to observe this month and to celebrate International Women’s Day on March 8, 2011 with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities that honor the history, accomplishments, and contributions of American women.  I also invite all Americans to visit www.WomensHistoryMonth.gov to learn more about the generations of women who have shaped our history.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-eighth day of February, in the year of our Lord two thousand eleven, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-fifth.

BARACK OBAMA

 

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