International Women's Day (IWD)

Hi, do you really know the story of the International Women’s Day?

Read on and find out.

The first national Woman's Day was  on 28 February 1909 in the United States. In August 1910, the American Socialists went to Copenhagen with the aim to propose the establishment of an International Women's Day, but they were not successful. It was thanks to the German Socialist Clara Zetkin that the following year, 19^th March 1911, there was the first International Woman’s Day.

 In 1917  demonstrations marked International Women's Day in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It was the last Sunday in February by the Julian calendar used in Russia and it corresponded to  8 March on the Gregorian calendar used in the West. So it is not true that the origin of Women's Day goes back to a tragedy that happened in 1908, which had as protagonists of the textile workers of New York Cotton. According to the legend these women, in the days before March 8, began a strike to protest against the terrible conditions they were forced to work. On March 8, Mr. Johnson, the owner of industry, blocked the doors to prevent women from going out. Then there was a fire at the factory and 129 workers died .

Today 8th March is an important day to highlight the economic, political, social, cultural contributions women have made to our world.

A conference was organized in our school on the topic of women writers. The lecturer was Lucia Tancredi, a teacher in the local science school as well as a successful writer. In her opinion men and women ARE different but this doesn’t mean that what women write is of inferior quality, they are able to turn  even an insignificant thing into great literature.  We liked it when she said that “ women write with their own bodies”: these  words  give the idea of all the emotions and feelings that they put in their writings.

All across the world, men give flowers ( in Italy it is the mimosa) and other gifts to the women in their lives - mothers, wives, girlfriends, sisters, teachers, etc. Women usually celebrate by having "women-only" dinners. All around the world women are becoming more powerful in business, entertainment, politics and other areas. There are over a dozen nations today with women leaders. However, IWD is still necessary to highlight the inequality millions of women still face.

But  things are moving in the right direction. In Italy we have some powerful women leaders: just a few example: Camusso who is the leader of one of the most important trade unions,  Marcegaglia who is the head of the Italian Manufacturers’ Association, Elsa Fornero who is the Minister of Labour , traditionally male positions now occupied by women.What  is it  like in your country?
And now enjoy these portraits of women in painting and enjoy the music! . We loved them