March 8 is International Womens Day. But many Americans are unaware that the radical movement to establish this day began in the USA in 1908. Championed by the Socialist Party of America, the origin was both socialist and feminist in nature, specifically calling for the celebration of working women and the mobilization of all workers to fight for women’s social, economic, and political equality. The brief article below discusses how this day originated in the USA, spread to Europe, played a major role in 1917 in the overthrow of the Russian Tsar, was eventually adopted by the UN, and led to Womens History Month. In the process, the March 8 [and the month of March] became, as one critic noted, a bland, sanitized event to remember something vaguely referred to as the vital role of women as agents of development as the U.N. puts it. But given todays severe economic inequality in the USA, the worst since 1929, which disproportionately affects working and middle class women of all races and ethnicities, as well as gender inequities around the globe, March 8 will remind us not only to take time to appreciate all that women have accomplished, but also to take to the streets to carry on the fight for social, economic, and political equality.
Posted on: Sat, 08 Mar 2014 03:17:06 +0000