As we all know, on 8th of March we celebrate the International and National Women’s Day. Since I am a woman and I am sure that most of the readers of this blog are women, I thought it might be a good idea to write a short article about the history and the meaning of the women day.
Women Day History
The celebration of woman’s day has its origin in UK. In 1869 in UK’s Parliament was brought up the idea of women right to vote. Half century later, in 1910 an International Conference of Working Women is held in Copenhagen. At this conference, Clara Zetkin proposed the idea of an International Women Day. A year later, on 19th March 1911 it was celebrated the first International Women Day. At that time, women day had a more political meaning. On 1913 the International Womens day was moved to 8th of March.
In 1965 Lenin declared 8th of March as official holiday, and spread it across the entire Soviet bloc soon after. Later, the popularity of the holiday inspired other countries, and today, March 8 is an official holiday in the following countries: Angola, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, China (for women only), Croatia, Cuba, Georgia, Guinea-Bissau, Eritrea, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Madagascar, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Nepal, Russia, Serbia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, and Zambia.
The role of UN
In 1945 the United Nations sign a Charter that represents the first international agreement that recognizes equal rights for men and women. Over the years, the UN and its technical agencies have promoted the participation of women as equal partners with men in achieving sustainable development, peace, security, and full respect for human rights. The empowerment of women continues to be a central feature of the UN’s efforts to address social, economic and political challenges across the globe.
Women Day Today
Nowadays the International Women’s Day is still celebrated as a reminder of equality between men and women. But there are countries where 8 March became a celebration of love and family.
For example, in Eastern Europe, 8 March is the national women’s day but it is also the national mother’s day. On 8 march men in these countries celebrate the women in their lives. Children make special gifts for their mothers, husbands buy special gifts for their wives, and boys impress their girlfriends with special quotes or flowers or even gifts.
In north-east of Romania there is a different tradition that says that on 1 March girls give martisor amulets to the boys in their lives, and that on 8 March, boys give gifts back to the women in their life. This way everyone fells love from the ones around them.
Tags: 8 march womens day, 8th march womens day, march womens day
