This week the world celebrated International Women’s Day (IWD), which has been observed on March 8th since 1914.
The day has a long and illustrious history, including sparking the Russian Revolution in 1917, as well as being a focal point for protests leading to women being granted the vote in most countries in the world. The UN has been marking this day since 1975, with various themes relating to the status of women in the world.
It’s more than a little ironic that this year, IWD was marked by the departure of the last viable female candidate for president of the United States. In the industrialised world, we are supposedly equal to men in every way. One could argue that between the structural pay gap, the fight over abortion rights in some countries, and the universal fear of walking alone at night, we are nowhere near actual equality, but we have certainly made a lot of progress since the IWD was established.
In some of the formerly-communist countries where IWD was a major holiday, it is now marked by giving small gifts – somehow not quite the same as comrades marching in the streets for a common cause. In Islamabad this year, women marching in the street for IWD had stones thrown at them – the fight is not over by any means. The patriarchy is not dead yet.
In the personal sphere, what does IWD mean for individual women like you and me? One way to observe it might be to consider the importance of female relationships.
Under the patriarchal system, we are expected to compete for the favours of powerful men. Jealousy, gossip and backstabbing are supposedly the result of this competition. It is no coincidence that the most virulent critics of powerful women are other women, and that appearance is more important than merit.
On the other hand, we also see the bonding between women who are pursuing a common cause, an echo of the sisterhood of those women who marched in the streets to demand the vote. Female friendships, collaborations and co-working spaces are some of the ways in which we bond together and lift each other up.
What does International Women’s Day mean to you? I’d love to know!