On March 8, 1908, 15,000 women marched through New York City demanding shorter hours, better pay and voting rights. This NYC show of sisterly solidarity soon became an annual global event connecting women around the world, and seeking to empower them to fight for recognition, rights, and the opportunity to achieve their full potential.
Great strides toward a culture of equality have been made in the past 100 years in many nations. Still, millions of women around the globe are not equal, not safe, not free.
International Women's Day, celebrated on March 8 for nearly a century, receives mere whisper in our country, probably because it's not a retail bonanza like Mother's Day or Secretary's Day. But around the world, even in many traditionally oppressive cultures, an exciting array of activities celebrate the collective power of women past, present and future.
The beautiful artwork above is by Margherita45. Check out more of her breathtaking collection at DeviantART.
Saturday, March 8, 2008
International Women's Day
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6 comments:
Also, more indigenous cultures revere women a little better than we Western nations do. In the West, if you are a woman who wants to be successful, you have to sell out and become more like a man and develop a sense for domination and skullduggery. But don't you dare strive for any kind of power because then it's held against you (Hillary Clinton). Indigenous cultures (some of them) recognize that women are a buffer against an out of control society ruled by the domineering and exploitive qualities of man. They celebrate the yin and yang whereas in the West, and especially in the U.S., only the yang is celebrated.
Respect for women as women only comes with respect for nature and the land. America will never be a place where women are respected as women, only as sex objects. And women will gladly play the game that has been set up for them by the power structure, because we have lost our way as well. Instead we assemble en masse to ban guns which is unachievable. Why not assemble en masse in order to ban sexist right wing propaganda and corporate corruption and the CIA? Why don't women organize to stop shopping thereby striking at the very heart of the power stucture? Why don't women march on Washington in order to stop the de-masculation of men whose jobs have been shipped overseas due to corporate greed? No, instead we want to ban guns, the very guns used by women to protect themselves against male predators. Instead we march so that more of us can become victims. WTF?!?! Women in America are pathetic! Go back to watching The View and admiring Barbara Walters' handbag!
Who wants to move far far away?
I wasn't talking to you Marie. You, of course, are an exception to the rule, which is why I like you so. I'm talking to all of the mediocre women out there who, of course, don't read your blog.
My anger comes from working in the industry that I do, and having to be surrounded by sexism and chauvinism all day long, every day....not to mention sheer stupidity. It's harmful to the psyche. Thank you for allowing me to vent.
Swiss Miss, I agree with you completely. I, too, used to work in the male-dominated world of Fortune 100 business and actually HID my first pregnancy the entire time. When I came back from my paltry six weeks of "vacation" rumors flew around the office that I'd gone to a fat farm. And boy were the men happy with that.
I brought my child with me to my going away party 4 years later; everyone was shocked shocked shocked to the core. The (all male) partners even discussed me at the annual meeting in Boca Raton, between golf sessions, and did some fakey soul searching. One later told me that had I revealed that I was pregnant, they definitely would've found a reason to fire me. Too embarrassing...the high-paying clients have certain expectations of what a KPMG employee ought to look like, and fat and pregnant is not it.
And I put up with this shit. Can you imagine? Swiss Miss, you are right. We women have lost our way.
I will happily move far far away with you....maybe to a country where the men won't rub their hands in glee at the thought of the hot lesbian sex going on in our red tent.
Sorry Marie, but I think the men in ANY culture would be turned on by the thought of hot lesbian sex in the red tent! :-)
I got this great image of a bunch of women marching on Washington to ban shopping..... the only problem is that they were all really well-dressed! It was like the beginnings of a really wacko satirical skit, for which I have no ending.....
Found you through Barbara Torris -- LOVE your quote that you use to describe yourself!
Whitney Johnson
www.daretodream.typepad.com
I'm glad to see your post on Women's Day. It's not celebrated as much in the US as in other countries - while it may seem like a token, it does provide a reminder that Women's Rights have to be fought for all year round.
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