Today the world celebrates March 8 – International Women’s Day.
Kiev. Ukraine. Ukraine Gate – March 09, 2021 – Society
History of the holiday
International Women’s Day came about as a “march of empty pots,” which took place on March 8, 1857, in New York.
Then workers of textile factories took to the streets with protests, demanding to reduce the working day by six hours, because they had to work 16 hours. Women also demanded a decent salary and the right to vote in elections.
The women brought pots to the protest and beat them like drums. Later, members of the movement became known as suffragettes (from suffrage – voting, suffrage).
In 1909, the Socialist Party of America declared National Women’s Day, which was celebrated until 1913 on the last Sunday in February.
In 1910, the German communist Clara Zetkin at the Women’s Forum in Copenhagen (which was attended by delegates from the United States) proposed the establishment of International Women’s Day. It was meant that on this day women will organize rallies and marches, involving the public in their problems.
Until 1917, women from New Zealand, Australia, Finland, Norway, Denmark, and Iceland received full or partial voting rights.
In 1975, the United Nations established March 8 as International Women’s Day. Every year the UN proposes a topic until March 8.
In 2021, the theme of the UN Day of Women in Leadership: Achieving an Equal Future in the Age of COVID-19 is dedicated to the enormous efforts of women and girls around the world to build a more equal future and overcome the crisis of COVID-19.
“International Women’s Day gives us the opportunity to reflect on the successes achieved, to call for change, and to celebrate the acts of courage and determination of ordinary women who have played a unique role in the history of their countries and communities.
The world has achieved unprecedented success, but no country has achieved gender equality.”
March 8 in Ukraine:
It will be recalled that discussions on the abolition of March 8 as a day off in Ukraine have been raging in Ukrainian society for several years now. This idea was actively spread by the former director of the Ukrainian Institute of National Memory Volodymyr Vyatrovych. According to him, this holiday has nothing to do with the meaning that was originally laid in it.
“Weekend status, granted on March 8, was one of the tools of the Soviet government to turn Women’s Day into a day in the format of“ bouquets-cakes-champagne… day off. This weekend only in Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, North Korea, Vietnam, Angola … It is unlikely that those countries that can be called an example of the rights of women, “- said Vyatrovych calling not to cancel the holiday, and make a day of work.
But so far this idea has not found support in society.
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Source: Ukrgate