Women’s Day; The root of its existence
Updated: Mar 16, 2022
By: Alana A. Tang, Bai Lu Yi Fei
Collaboration with Binus Dead Poets Society
What is Women’s day?
I’m sure we all know a woman close to us in our lives. A family member, spouse, friend, maybe you’re a woman yourself. Unless of course, you just never seen a woman.
Women’s Day is on the 8th of March. It is a day to celebrate milestones and achievements made by women all over the world. Additionally, it brings awareness to sexism and abuse against women that has been going on for centuries.
What is the history of Women’s day?
The first “National Women's Day” was celebrated on the 28th of February, 1909 in New York City and was organized by the Socialist Party of America by the suggestion of Theresa Malkiel.
A year later in August, an International Socialist Women’s Conference was organized by the Socialist Second International in Copenhagen, Denmark. German delegates Clara Zetkin, Käte Duncker, Paula Thiede, and others proposed the establishment of an annual “Women’s Day”. 100 deleg
ates representing 17 different countries voted for the said plan and the women rejoiced. Word spread across the globe and finally, the first official “International Women’s Day” was celebrated by Austria, Denmark, Germany, and Switzerland on March 19th, 1911.
Why is it celebrated?
You may be asking, why is there a women’s day and not a men’s day? Well going back to the 1900s for you confused peeps, women barely had any rights. They couldn’t have jobs and were forced to work at home. They had to live without education, couldn’t vote for elections until 1920 in the United States, and couldn’t even get a divorce throughout the 20th century as if they were controlled by men and couldn’t act on their own. Many of them had to step up and fight for their rights and soon got it after a long time. Soon then, Women’s day became not only a celebration to celebrate but also a strategy to promote equal rights, including women's suffrage. It promotes feminism and gender equality for all genders whilst appreciating the hardships that women deal with both in the past and the possible future.
“Imagine a gender-equal world. A world free of bias, stereotypes and discrimination. A world that's diverse, equitable, and inclusive.”
International Women’s Day #BreakTheBias Movement
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