March 8 – International Women’s Day – Hundreds of thousands of women are celebrated annually in Romania. However, it is worth explaining why we celebrate Women’s Day on this day and what is the historical significance of March 8 in general.
We have collected all the versions that somehow explain the origin of this holiday and that can detail what March 8 means. Some of them may surprise or even shock you because they do not have the festive mood we are used to.
March 8 – the meaning of the day
International Women’s Day is a world-famous holiday. Its history began with the struggle of workers in several American factories for better working conditions and higher wages.
So, according to Wikipedia about the significance of March 8 (Women’s Day), in the mid-nineteenth century, American factory workers, after unionization and a series of decisive protests, managed to significantly improve their working conditions.
However, in the enterprises where women worked mainly (textiles, footwear, sewing and other factories), the improvement process was much slower.
The employees of these companies continued to work up to 16 hours a day. Businesses were in no hurry to make a profit, and for the time being the ladies could not decide to take active action to protect their rights.
Their patience has finally come to an end. On March 8, 1857 , hundreds of workers from various factories in New York gathered in a mass demonstration, demanding the widespread introduction of a ten-hour workday, light and dry workrooms, and other improvements in conditions. work and wages equal to those of men. Protesters marched through the streets of Manhattan, shouting slogans of equality and hitting kitchen utensils in iron pans and saucepans.
American journalists rightly called this action the “Empty Pan March” (later, the expression gave its name to one of the variants of the protest actions). Thus, the story of March 8 began as a day of struggle for women’s rights. After this “holiday” on March 8, women’s working conditions improved significantly, wages rose, and trade unions appeared in factories with a female-dominated collective.
However, the ladies did not manage to equalize the rights with the men in the end – it seems that the traditions of the society were too strong. This brilliant March 8 demonstration failed to break stereotypes, and some historians and researchers generally say that it was not the workers who protested that day, but the prostitutes. They are supposed to have demanded a regular salary for sailors so that they have something to pay for women’s services. This hypothesis is supported by another demonstration on March 8, 1894 in Paris, where prostitutes demanded that their rights be recognized, as well as the rights of other working women, such as tailors and bakers.
More than fifty years have passed. The nineteenth century gave way to the secondIn the twentieth century , technical progress did not stand still, and many useful inventions appeared that simplified the lives of women. men. It was expected that this condition would not last forever.
In 1908 , in New York, the history of March 8, 1857, was repeated.
At the call of the Social Democratic Women’s Organization in New York, factory workers once again went to a mass demonstration, protesting against the exploitation of child labor, low wages and trying to win voting rights for themselves.
More than 15,000 people took part in the March 8 protest, which frightened city officials. Police were ordered to disperse the demonstration. Improvised “water cannons” were put into operation (to put it simply – hoses filled with dirty water and ice).
But even this shame for the action of the American police did not manage to scare the determined women. The demonstrations continued and eventually led to a change of attitude towards the work of children and women.
In 1909, women in New York and several other American cities staged another series of protests, reminding the authorities of their demands to grant them the right to participate in elections. And the following year, Copenhagen hosted the second International Conference of Working Women, at which the leader of the women’s group of the German Social Democratic Party, Clara Zetkin , called on all women in the world to join the fight for the right to decent work. and voting.
Clara Zetkin
In addition, Clara Zetkin proposed the idea of celebrating the annual International Day of Women’s Solidarity in the fight for economic, social and political equality.
In the same year, Clara Zetkin and her friend Rose Luxemburg brought prostitutes to the streets of German cities to stop the arbitrariness of the police and not to arrest them. The desired result was achieved almost immediately!
After the decision was made, a year later, the socialist organizations began to celebrate this holiday on different days of the year, depending on the country. In Germany, Austria and Denmark, the demonstrations took place on March 19, 1911. In Russia, Women’s Day was celebrated for the first time on March 3, 1913. The choice of data was completely arbitrary, no official decision was made here.
In 1914, Women’s Day was celebrated for the first time on March 8 simultaneously in six countries: the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Denmark, the German Empire, the Netherlands, the Russian Empire, and Switzerland.
The next women’s demonstration, called “for bread and peace,” took place on March 8, 1917 in Tsarist Russia. After two million soldiers were killed in the war, the women came out with the slogan “bread and peace”.
This day falls on February 23 in the Julian calendar and on March 8 in the Gregorian calendar. It so happened that four days later, the Russian emperor abdicated and the women received the right to vote.
Since 1927, workers have already celebrated Women’s Day with festive meals, entertainment, songs and dances. Rallies, group rallies and business demonstrations gradually receded into the background.
On March 8, 1977, due to Soviet “patronage,” it received official “International” status. In that year, the UN General Assembly called on all countries to proclaim, in accordance with their historical and national traditions, any day of the year as International Women’s Day.. Thus, the world community has tried to clearly define Women’s Day. Thus, the story of March 8 was formed.
The significance of March 8 in the world
Literally, Women’s Day began to be celebrated in many European countries according to the most common version – in memory of the events of March 8, 1857 in New York.
In Romanian, until December 1989, on March 8, there was talk of Mother’s Day, but after the Revolution of ’89, it was replaced by Women’s Day. Today, March 8, is established as a day off for workers.
International Women’s Day is also recognized as an official holiday (sometimes a holiday) in more than 70 countries, including China, Russia, Vietnam, Georgia, Israel, Moldova, Uganda, Ukraine, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil. , Greece, Malta, Montenegro, Turkey or Zambia.
In the rest of the world, March 8 is not considered a public holiday, but each year it is gaining more and more popularity, while maintaining a feminist trend.
- Cuba – is a day off, honoring the traditions and revolutionary spirit of the holiday.
- Uganda – has its own legend about Women’s Day. She tells of a woman who struck God with a wooden pistol. Since then, African red earth, little water, and aquatic creatures (especially snakes) have become the symbol of women. In this holiday, the “Janjoba” concert program is organized in Uganda.
- Japan – Women’s Day is March 14 and symbolizes “White Day.” Traditionally, only those women who gave something to their lovers on Valentine’s Day can accept gifts and greeting cards on this day.
- Vietnam – here March 8 is the Day of Remembrance of the Ching Sisters, who bravely defended their homeland 2,000 years ago.
- Poland – On Women’s Day, Poles pay attention to ladies of all ages. However, March 8 is not a day off here.
- Bulgaria – the attitude towards this holiday is ambiguous. Even women often forget or even deliberately refuse to celebrate.
- China – also, March 8 is celebrated very quietly. Chinese women do not work in the afternoon.
- Italy – Italians celebrate March 8 without men, in their own companies, in a restaurant. In Italy, Women’s Day is not a day off.
- France – they don’t have Women’s Day, but they honor Mother’s Day and Valentine’s Day.
- Albania – It is common for Albanians to give women yellow mimosas and chocolate.
- Portugal – Portuguese women celebrate this holiday in the city, in groups made up only of women.
- Pakistan – Women here celebrate their rights, remembering the sacrifices and the struggle over the years to achieve normal living conditions.
- Great Britain – organizes marches and gatherings to commemorate the history of feminism.
The significance of March 8 among celebrities
Today, the global #womansday movement is actively supported by designers, actresses and musicians: Victoria Beckham, Stella McCartney, Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman, Gisele Büdchen .
“For me, International Women’s Day is more about the fact that women should support other women. And that we should educate the next generation. I have faced many problems, but I am trying to learn from this experience “, says Victoria Beckham.
Nicole Kidman and Reese Witherspoon call “the fight for women’s rights in cinema” their main mission – by the way, their production company mainly produces women-directed films, and the separate line of work is to support the work of female authors in television and cinema.
This is how, for example, Kidman and Witherspoon came up with the idea to film “Big Little Lies” by Liane Moriarty, which eventually became a very popular TV series.
The same Nicole Kidman proposes the conscious approach to the subject of equality. “I made a promise every 18 months to accept an offer from female directors and producers. I declare this publicly, “Nicole Kidman said in an interview.
What the UN thinks about March 8
In 1975, the UN gave the right meaning to this day: they invited all countries to choose any day of the year and turn it into Women’s Day. It became March 8, declared International Day in 1977.
Moreover, every year, the UN chooses a theme dedicated to March 8 – this is usually the issue that needs special attention at the moment. For example, in 2002, the main issue was the fate of Afghan women; in 2013 there was opposition to violence against women; in 2015 – “Inspiring women – Inspiring humanity”; in 2017 – “Women in a changing world”, and in 2019 – “Think about equality, create a vision, develop new methods of change”.
March 8 customs in Romania
In Romania, since March 8, men give flowers and symbolic gifts to the female part of their lives, and children offer gifts to grandparents, mothers and teachers. Also, the evening is spent in the company of half or with friends, at home or in the restaurant. Thus, this holiday has practically lost the mission and purpose for which it was introduced.
In Romanian folklore, there are no customs related to the celebration of women, because it is a relatively recent celebration. However, it is believed that if you still wear the martisor received on March 1st, you must continue to do so until March 9th. That way you will be lucky all year round.
Among modern feminists, the celebration in honor of women only provokes outrage, considering that March 8 is celebrated only in order to draw attention to gender inequality.
