Tomorrow, March 8, is International Women’s Day. The first time I learned about International Women’s Day was in college. My roommate was minoring and Russian and on March 8, she brought home a flower from class. It is customary in Russia for men to buy flowers for the women in their lives on Women’s Day. It’s an official holiday in many countries and the United Nations has made a tradition of picking a theme for International Women’s Day each year. This year’s theme is Equality for Women is Progress for All.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWiIJdXXxUU
The general theme for IWD 2014 is “Inspiring Change.” I’ve given a lot of thought of the women who have inspired change in my life and in the Church for me. This past year has been a whirlwind for Mormon feminist activity, it feels like everywhere I look there is someone inspiring change!
Since first learning about International Women’s Day, I’ve celebrated in various ways. At BYU in 2007, I participated in a demonstration against sexual assault and rape. In 2012, I walked the Golden Gate Bridge for Join Me on the Bridge. I don’t have plans yet this year.
What are you doing tomorrow for International Women’s Day? At the very least, I’ll be wearing purple, the official color of IWD. I’ll look up to see what events are going on in my area. You should, too. Let me know in the comments.
Happy Women’s Day!
3 Responses
March 8th is a very important celebration in many continents. I know for sure we celebrated in Europe (East and West) and Africa. I do think that it is celebrated in Asia and Latin America too due to the Socialist and Communist Movement in the last century. I love this day. Where I come from, the yellow mimosa flower is the symbol of it because it is the first flower that blooms in March and at the beginning of Spring. It is a day off for everyone and all women get flowers, regardless of their age, civil status, profession and number of children. They are celebrated as members of society in all aspects.
What many women do on this day is getting together with other female relatives and friends and celebrating.
I plan to go to an art exhibition in my area celebrating young female artists.
Thanks for all that! So fascinating about the mimosa flower! I’ll have to make sure I wear a little yellow, too.
I didn’t plan anything specific but I loved what my FB feed contained throughout they day yesterday!