VilaWeb - Diari escola: International Women's Day

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dissabte, 27 d'abril de 2024

> The Origin of the 8th of March

> Feminism and the Suffragist Movement

> Women Today

dilluns, 8 de març de 2004

International Women's Day is celebrated on the 8th of March – it is a day of vindication of women's political, social, economic and legal rights and their equality with men. The celebration has become a symbol of the women of the whole world, and there are even countries that have declared the 8th of March a national holiday.

Throughout the day, there are numerous demonstrations and acts of vindication, which would unfortunately indicate that the overall situation of women is very far from what one would want, as they still suffer from gender discrimination. And not only in poor or developing countries, but also in rich countries.

On the 16th of December 1977 the General Assembly of the United Nations instituted the 8th of March as the International Day of Women and International Peace, and thereby associated itself with this day of vindication. Because, in fact, the origins of this celebration go back to the turn of the twentieth century, a time of great social and political upheaval characterised by the rise of new ideologies.

It is in this historical context that a number of specific events lie at the origin of today's celebration. Let's see what they were.

! Actualització el 09/03/2004 a les 06:00

Els drets de les dones han reculat en els darrers decennis, segons un comunicat de l'UNIFEM

+ Webs relacionades dins Nosaltres.Com: Dones

The Origin of the 8th of March

+ Clara Zetkin advocated the establishment of an International Women's Day.

One important date is the 28th of February 1909, when the socialist women of the United States first celebrated Women's Day. One year later, in 1910, the communist revolutionary Clara Zetkin advocated the establishment, within the framework of the Second International Conference of Socialist Women, of an International Women's Day, with the aim of promoting women's universal suffrage. On the 25th of March 1911 one hundred and forty-two working women died in a fire at a textile factory in New York, a tragic event that gave a renewed boost to women's vindications. Finally, on the 8th of March 1917, in the middle of the First World War, the women of Russia took to the streets under the slogan 'Bread and Peace', thereby starting the movement that led to the beginning of the Russian Revolution. Ever since, the 8th of March has remained the day of women's rights.

Feminism and the Suffragist Movement

+ The suffragist movement, or the right for women to vote.

The events described above are considered to be key to the establishment of International Women's Day. On a general level, the vindication of women's rights was born in the mid-nineteenth century, when the West was fully immersed in the Industrial Revolution. It was then that the feminist movement began, especially in Great Britain and the United States. In the latter, feminism was very closely linked to the struggle to end slavery, and already in 1848 a manifesto in favour of women's rights was drawn up at Seneca Falls (New York, USA). In Britain, feminism focused on attaining the right for women to vote, known as the suffragist movement. The principal leader of the movement was the Englishwoman Emmeline Pankhurst (1858-1928).

Women Today

+ Women fight to attain better recognition of their rights.

The struggle and social pressure of many women and men, the development of industrial society and the important role of women during the World Wars of the last century are three factors that have allowed the women of today to attain better recognition of their rights, at least in Western countries. Even so, this greater recognition is totally insufficient, and very often only theoretical. Because in practice, equality between men and women is far from complete. Otherwise, there is no way of explaining the lower pay levels in the workplace or the meagre presence of women at the head of companies and political parties. Not to speak of psychological harassment and, in particular, physical violence, an extremely serious ill that is suffered by women all over the world.

MATERIALS

Dia Internacional de les Dones
Format:Web
Pàgina de la Generalitat de Catalunya sobre el Dia Internacional de les Dones: origen del 8 de març, actes previstos i vincles d'interès.
Prou violència contra les dones
Format:Web
Campanya d'Amnistia Internacional per aturar la violència contra les dones. Inclou un resum de l'informe sobre aquest tipus de violència.
El 8 de març
Format:Web
Cronologia dels esdeveniments que són a l'origen d'aquesta jornada reivindicativa.
Recursos
Format:Web
Recull de vincles relacionats amb els drets de les dones.
Les dones al món
Format:Web
Informe de l'Organització de les Nacions Unides (ONU) relatiu a la situació de les dones al món.
Dones i sida
Format:Web
La commemoració del 8 de març a l'ONU, centrada enguany en els devastadors efectes de la sida sobre les dones.
Feminisme
Format:Web
Monogràfic sobre història del feminisme.
Igualtat de gènere
Format:Web
Espai pensat per a prendre consciència de la necessitat s'assolir la igualtat de gènere. A tal fi, s'inclouen espais diversos: biografies, lectures, participació, vincles, activitats per a l'aula…

QUE HO SABIES?

In 1791, in the middle of the French Revolution, Olympe de Gouges (1745-1793) wrote the 'Declaration of the Rights of Women', in which she argued for equality between men and women. Unsurprisingly, this revolutionary woman is considered a true precursor of the feminist movement.
During the 5th century BC, Greece and, more specifically, Athens, was thriving politically and culturally. The city was governed by Pericles, which is why this era is known as Pericles' century. But his wife, Aspasia, an extraordinarily intelligent and cultured woman had a lot to do with the development of Greek art and culture.
According to data provided by the Plataforma Unitària contra les Violències de Gènere (United Platform against Gender Violence), a Catalan organisation, every five days a woman dies in Spain murdered by her husband or partner, and every year there are half a million cases of aggression against women. Moreover, according to UNICEF, in the year 2000, between 20% and 50% of the world's girls and women suffered some kind of assault.