Happy International Women’s Day.

The Roots.

International Women’s Day did not begin with branded hashtags or LinkedIn motivational posts. Its origins are much louder and far less polite.

We can trace the day back to the early 1900s, when women across Europe and North America were busy doing radical things like demanding the right to vote, fair wages and working conditions that didn’t resemble medieval torture chambers.

At a time when women were only expected to be debutantes, docile and quiet, these women were not only brave but also defiant. In 1908, thousands of women garment workers marched through New York City to protest long hours, poor pay, and child labour.

In 1910, German activist Clara Zetkin proposed an international day dedicated to women’s rights at a conference in Copenhagen. Delegates from 17 countries agreed, and just like that, International Women’s Day was born.

The first official celebration took place in 1911 across several European countries. Over a million people attended rallies demanding women’s rights.

Photo by Bestbe Models on Pexels.

A Different but Similar Fight.

Today, International Women’s Day is celebrated on 8th March. Rallies still happen, but sometimes they are accompanied by brunch.

The fight for equality has come a long way. Thanks to the women who marched, the women who dared to defy the norm, and the women who chose to speak up, we are having it a little better. However, the fight is far from over.

It is less gruesome than it was a few decades ago. And the educated women and empowered girls have better options and conditions than the women who first championed this, but that’s just a fraction of the entire female population worldwide.

Women today are still championing for equal pay, political representation, protection from violence, education for girls and economic opportunities. Some women are having it rougher than others, but the fight is the same.

 And that’s why International Women’s Day is so important: it unites all women across races, cultures, countries, and continents and reminds them that the fight is still on.

Women today also have a new struggle: the pull away from the patriarchy. Women all over the world are defying gender roles and societal rules, carving new paths for themselves, and that is de-shelving society.

Women are realising that they have been groomed all along to serve and uphold the patriarchy. To bend backwards for others and overgive to earn their keep and worth in the grand scheme of things. But the modern woman is pushing back and shaking the existence of the entire thing.

Women today are prioritising themselves. She is walking away from things that interfere with her mental health, even if it feels or sounds unreasonable to others. She is speaking her mind. She is bold, loud and knows that her worth is innate.

Women today are educating themselves, earning substantial sums of money, and building communities that hold them back at various points in their lives. This then gives them options and full responsibility over their choices.

As a result, many women are delaying marriage and children. Others are choosing to be single parents, thus demystifying the shame and stigmatisation that have long branded this concept.

Similarly, the idea of single and childfree women is no longer a mystery discussed in whispers. And those who get married do so purely for companionship, not for survival. I like to think of this as freedom.

Times may have changed, but the fight is still on!

Aluta Continua.

Happy International Women’s Day♥