ORIGIN

The earliest Women’s Day observance, called “National Woman’s Day”, was held on February 28, 1909, in New York City, organized by the Socialist Party of America at the suggestion of activist Theresa Malkiel. There have been claims that the day was commemorating a protest by women garment workers in New York on March 8, 1857, but researchers Kandel and Picq have described this as a myth created to “detach International Women’s Day from its Soviet history in order to give it a more international origin”.
Theresa Serber Malkiel (1874-1949) was a Ukrainian-born American labor activist, suffragist, and educator. She was the first woman to rise from factory work to leadership in the Socialist party. Her 1910 novel, The Diary of a Shirtwaist Striker, is credited with helping to reform New York state labor laws. As head of the Woman’s National Committee of the Socialist Party of America (SPA), she established an annual National Woman’s Day which was the precursor to International Women’s Day. In 1911, while on a speaking tour of the American South, she called attention to the problem of white supremacism within the party. She spent her later years promoting adult education for women workers.
In August 1910, an International Socialist Women’s Conference was organized to precede the general meeting of the Socialist Second International in Copenhagen, Denmark. Inspired in part by the American socialists, German delegates Clara Zetkin, Käte Duncker, Paula Thiede and others proposed the establishment of an annual “Women’s Day”, although no date was specified at that conference. Delegates (100 women from 17 countries) agreed with the idea as a strategy to promote equal rights including suffrage for women.

HISTORY

International Women’s Day grew out of the labour movement to become a recognised annual event by the United Nations.
The seeds of it were planted in 1908, when 15 000 women marched through New York City demanding shorter working hours, better pay and the right to vote. A year later, the Socialist Party of America declared the first National Woman’s Day.
In accordance with a declaration by the Socialist Party of America, the first National Woman’s Day (NWD) was observed across the United States on February 28. Women continued to celebrate NWD on the last Sunday of February until 1913.
The idea to make the day international came from a woman called Clara Zetkin. She suggested the idea in 1910 at an International Conference of Working Women in Copenhagen. Clara’s idea for an International Women’s Day had no fixed date. There were 100 women there, from 17 countries, and they agreed on her
suggestion unanimously.
It was first celebrated on 19 March, 1911, in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland. The centenary was celebrated in 2011, so this year we’re technically celebrating the 110th International Women’s Day. On the eve of World War I campaigning for peace, Russian women observed their first International Women’s Day on February 23, the last Sunday in February. Following discussions, International Women’s Day was agreed to be marked annually on March 8 that translated in the widely adopted Gregorian calendar from February 23 – and this day has remained the global date for International Women’s Day ever since.
International Women’s Day was celebrated for the first time by the United Nations in 1975.
2011 saw the 100 year centenary of International Women’s Day – with the first IWD event held exactly 100 years ago in 1911 in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland. In the United States, President Barack Obama proclaimed March 2011 to be “Women’s History Month”, calling Americans to mark IWD by reflecting on “the extraordinary accomplishments of women” in shaping the country’s history.

DEVELOPMENT

After the Socialist Party of America organized a Women’s Day in New York City on February 28, 1909, German delegates proposed at the 1910 International Socialist Woman’s Conference that “a special Women’s Day” be organized annually. After women gained suffrage in Soviet Russia in 1917, March 8 became a national holiday there. The day was then predominantly celebrated by the socialist movement and communist countries until it was adopted by the feminist movement in about 1967. The United Nations began celebrating the day in 1977.
Commemoration of International Women’s Day today ranges from being a public holiday in some countries to being largely ignored elsewhere. In some places, it is a day of protest; in others, it is a day that celebrates womanhood.

TODAY

International Women’s Day is being celebrated around the world on 8th March, as people come together to spread awanreness of women’s advancement, rights and gender equality. In their day-to-day lives, women juggle so many commitments and responsibilities, deal with so much, and look fantastic while getting everything done, too!
Today we celebrate International Women’s day in different ways. For example, some companies offer women a half-day off work, while others celebrate by giving them flowers. At home, the ladies go easy with chores and get a day off from cooking, cleaning, and making sure everything is immaculate. At work, the contributions of
women are recognized and mini-celebrations are hosted by office teams.
On the social side, women party it up and head out to celebrate womanhood. Special deals are available for ladies at restaurants, cafes and some stores even have special sales. Female activists, also utilize the day to promote gender equality and advance women’s rights. Today we have various organizations that organize different themes for Women’s Day every year to proudly present and draw attention to women and their
contribution to the world. As social networks have a big impact on our lives, this year they decided to mark International Women’s Day through them. Every woman can take part in the challenge of posting a photo with a raised hand as a reminder of gender equality and achievement.
Even in the 21st century there are parts of the world where Women’s Day is not so represented, but certainly nothing is as it was before. Everyone, including men, is working to make sure that women have the right to vote and to be equal in every aspect of our everyday life.

DID YOU KNOW?

Although it started in America in 1909, it wasn’t an official holiday until it was celebrated by the
UN on March 8, 1975.
The International Women’s Day logo is a looping, arrowed circle with the female (or Venus),
gender symbol at the inset.

The first British women police served during the First World War.
The theme for 2021 is #ChooseToChallenge. It highlights the importance of challenging
misconceptions to create a more inclusive and gender-equal world.
Marie Curie discovered Radium and Polonium and for that job, she won a Nobel Prize for
Chemistry in 1911.
The first computer programmer was actually a woman named Ada Lovelace.
It wasn’t always celebrated on the 8th March. In fact, the very first International Women’s Day
was actually celebrated on the 19th March 1911!
As of January 2012, women held 15.1% of all presiding officer posts in governments the world.
603 million women live in countries where domestic violence is not yet considered a crime.
When women are involved in negotiations the probability of a peace agreement lasting at least
two years is increased by 20 percent, and 15 years by 35 percent.
In January 2019, there were 11 women serving as Head of State and 10 as Head of
Government.
Women are more rational than men because of a thicker cerebral cortex than men. Ahem!
Women are always right. J

– Ema Demirović, Selma Hodžić, Nerina Čengić, Elma Avdibegović, Izeta Redžepi and
Zana Beljuri with our teacher Sanja Salihović from the English Creative Club