#ChooseToChallenge
Did you come across the hashtag anywhere recently? Well, this is the theme for this year’s International Women’s Day. The past year has been a year of challenges for every section of the human population. But even a cursory glance of human history will show that women have almost always been faced with challenges in the world. Their struggles for gender equality and progress have always been against the toughest odds. Yet, these struggles often shown us the immense potential that has brought out the best qualities of the human race. So yes, it’s another March 8, the time to celebrate the women around us, the time to celebrate the women all over the world, who never fail to surprise us with their resilience.
The origins of International Women’s Day
But, how did all this begin? When did people start to think that they needed such a day?
It has been over a century since we began celebrating March 8 as International Women’s Day. On March 8, 1908, about 15,000 women marched through New York City demanding better pay, shorter working hours, and voting rights. The following year, the first National Women’s Day was celebrated in the USA on February 28, 1909. Soon women would raise the slogan of ‘Bread and Roses’, with bread signifying better economic prospects and roses referring to improved living standards.
The first International Women’s Day was celebrated on 19 March. The idea for such a day arose in 1910 at an International Conference of Working Women in Copenhagen.
In 1917, women in Russia began to protest for ‘Bread and Peace’ in response to the effects of the First World War, which had by that point resulted in the death of 2 million Russian soldiers. This happened on the last Sunday of February. Russia was still using the Julian calendar, the day when the protests began was March 8 as per the Gregorian calendar.
Since 1975, the UN began recognizing and celebrating International Women’s Day on March 8.
The women in our lives
Our mothers, sisters, partners, friends – open your eyes a bit wide and you will see the warriors in all the women who are in our lives and around us. They surge ahead, surmounting odds and difficulties that were imposed by a past of patriarchy that dominated society. Those times have changed and today women rightfully possess opportunities to thrive and in many societies, they have achieved their rightful place, one of equality.
However, the pangs of patriarchy still persist and we can do a lot more to hasten the total destruction of such mindsets and enjoy a world of true gender equality.
Start the celebration from the household
Who does most of the household work at your home? If the answer is ‘mum’, then it is high time we changed how things work. Now, many of us might be used to the modern annual traditions where we opt to do the entire household work on our mother’s /partner’s birthday or on occasions such as women’s day. We need to replace this with a permanent framework of sharing the work at home equally among members of the household.
The parental example
Celebrating the women in our life means that we set the right examples before our kids and ensure that they grow in a manner conducive to ensuring and promoting gender equality and showing respect to all. What can parents do here?
Firstly, set the right example. If you want your kids to get the right principles, then put those principles into practice in your own lives and let your children see that. Share the work at home, be respectful and cautious in the way you speak and interact with each other. If your children by chance express any behaviour that is disrespectful to women or insensitive to gender, then set them down and talk to them about it, leading them on the right path.
Do something special
You can mark this March 8 by doing something special for the women in your lives. Need any ideas? Well, you could cook something special for them, like maybe their favourite dish. Yes, put in an extra bit of effort. Maybe get a special gift for them.
Support the cause
The UN Women estimates that the COVID-19 pandemic has adversely affected efforts at promoting gender equality by destroying the progress equal to the efforts of 25 years. It is our responsibility to enrich and revitalize these efforts now. Let’s support a charity or give to a cause such as an NGO that is engaged in efforts to promote gender equality. Let’s put in a bit of time and resources to such initiatives.
The world can be a better place to live if we made it a more equal place for women. Now, things in our nation might be getting better, but there are many societies across the globe where women lack even the most basic rights. Let’s inculcate the right values and take the responsibility upon ourselves to craft a world based on justice for all!
How March 8 came to be International Women’s Day –
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