International Women’s Day on March 8. What exactly is a women’s day? What was the direct reason for having a women’s day? How did International Women’s Day come about? What does universal suffrage for women have to do with Women’s Day? What does the Russian Revolution have to do with Women’s Day? Why is International Women’s Day actually celebrated and commemorated on March 8? An overview:
Origin of International Women’s Day: reason for suffrage
Today’s International Women’s Day as we know it today ultimately arose because women stood up for their rights. Consideration should be given to:
- The fight for universal suffrage for women
- The fight against violence against women
- The fight against women’s poverty
- The fight against poor working conditions
- The fight for the abolition of child labor
International Women’s Day
Nowadays, Women’s Day is mainly about the feeling of solidarity of women all over the world. Women can show their militancy, stand up for their rights, draw attention to their women’s problems, demonstrate, all for and by women all over the world.
A brief overview of the development of women’s day
1910
First International Women’s Day meeting.
1912
The very first Women’s Day meeting in the Netherlands.
1921
The International Women’s Secretariat proposed choosing a fixed date for the celebration of International Women’s Day.
1922
In 1922, communist women started actually celebrating Women’s Day on March 8. Previously, the women’s day meetings could take place on different dates.
1978
The United Nations recognizes March 8 as International Women’s Day.
Why Women’s Day on March 8?
Why a day like March 8 to celebrate Women’s Day? In 1908, textile workers in New York took to the streets on March 8 to demonstrate against the very poor working conditions. They had to work long hours, were paid very poorly and had to work under very poor conditions. That was the direct reason for the strike, indirectly the fight against universal suffrage for women came on top of it.
International women’s conference in Copenhagen in 1910
It was the (left-wing) socialist women, communist women and many of them feminists, who lived at the beginning of the last century, who organized an international women’s conference in Copenhagen in 1910. Initially, these women were concerned with getting the right to vote. It soon emerged that many other issues were bothering the women, besides the struggle to obtain universal suffrage.
Feminist and socialist Clara Zetkin (1857-1933)
It was the German feminist and socialist Clara Zetkin who proposed organizing an annual women’s day, where women worldwide could demonstrate and take action. The International Women’s Secretariat was created during the International Women’s Conference in Copenhagen.
Ideas by Clara Zetkin
Clara Zetkin especially argued that socialism could not exist without women. That men and women had to fight together for universal suffrage for women. In her own country (Germany) she received little attention for her militant ideas. In order to be heard, she invented International Women’s Day, which at the time still had a mainly socialist slant.
Beginning of Russian Revolution
In 1917 on March 8, women took to the streets in Saint Petersburg to strike and demonstrate. The communist women revolted en masse due to the enormous lack of food and horrors caused by the war. This women’s strike turned into a general strike. Today, March 8, in addition to being International Women’s Day, is also seen as an official communist holiday, where this general strike is commemorated as the start of the Russian Revolution.
Division due to the Russian Revolution and the First and Second World Wars
Due to the split between socialists and communists due to, among other things, the Russian Revolution, but also due to the First World War, March 8 was mainly celebrated in communist circles in Europe and also in the US.
Rise of the feminist movement, the second feminist wave
It was only in the 1960s, during the rise of the second wave of feminism, that the celebration of International Women’s Day on March 8 and the memory of the 1908 women’s strike in New York were reinstated.
1975 International Year of Women
The year 1975 was declared the International Year of Women. Since then, International Women’s Day has been celebrated worldwide. In the Netherlands now also by immigrant women.
March 8 is an official holiday
March 8 is a real official holiday, especially in socialist countries.
In the Netherlands
In the Netherlands, Folding Day is celebrated and commemorated by addressing specific women’s topics, by focusing on a different women’s theme every year.